Nowhere To Go But Everywhere
by butcherthebar
Summary: AU: Naomi is a wanderer, travelling with family and friends. Emily is trapped, stuck with nowhere to go. Their paths are set to collide.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Yeah so. I'm new. Hi.**

**I started writing this at work because a mentally challenged monkey on acid could do my job and I can feel my brain rot with every hour I spend there. Something had to be done and well, this is that something. Read if you like, don't if you don't. I don't consider myself a writer by any stretch of the word so I don't blame you if you've already hit that back button. **

**Disclaimer : I own nothing except a pair of smelly black Vans and an even smellier brother. **

* * *

><p>I woke up to the sound of my bedroom door creaking open, shortly followed by the telltale noises of a very drunk someone stumbling around while trying to stay quiet.<p>

_Katie's back._

Every weekend it was the same story, weekdays too if she could manage it, so I was no stranger to this situation. In fact, this happened often enough over the past few years that I had memorized the exact routine my twin sister would follow as she fought against gravity and the space between the doorway and her bed.

"Shit. Why the hell're 'hose there?"

She'd trip and stumble over the mountain of animal print she always left lying on the floor. Each and every time Katie went out, she emptied her closet and drawers because she just absolutely _had_ to try on every possible combination of her clothes. She never put anything back where it belonged, perfectly content to let the rejected items pile up on the floor and form an Intoxi-Katie trap. You'd think she would learn her lesson eventually, but no; Katie was a very committed slob.

_Clunk. Clunk._

She'd throw her hilariously high heels carelessly into the room. The left one always landed somewhere near my nightstand, and the right one either ended up buried in her clothes pile or hidden underneath her bed. I always had to find it for her in the morning.

"Ow ow _fucking _OW. G'_dammit! S_'upid fucking _useless_ thing._"_

She'd stub her pinky toe on her gigantic wooden dresser, even though its outline was clearly visible through the darkness. There was no way that thing could be anything but visible, honestly. Gigantic didn't even begin to cover it.

_Thud._ "...Unnnnhh fuck..._ouch._"

She'd fall right smack on her ass after trying to hop on one foot and nurse her injured toe at the same time. How she ever thought she'd manage to do this with more alcohol than blood in her veins was beyond me.

With one final thud, Katie collapsed onto her bed and immediately fell asleep, her snores (because god forbid Katie ever be quiet, even in sleep) filling every previously quiet inch of our room. I envied that about her. Not the snoring, obviously, but the sleeping. Sleep never came easily for me. I tossed and turned and spent every night counting the tiny, crisscrossing lines on the ceiling above my bed. I usually made it to around 4,330 before it got too dark to distinguish them from the shadows, and then I would shut my eyes and try to dream.

I tried to imagine myself in all kinds of idealized, relaxing places, the kinds of things you see in movies and magazines. Swaying hammocks, tropical drinks in coconut shells, warm sun and sand, or even curling up with a book by the fireplace of a snowed in cabin; none of it worked. During the day, it was easy. I spent most of my time daydreaming, escaping into my head, far away from overbearing twins, intolerant, terrifying mothers, and hidden secrets, but I could never escape at night. Reality was far too pressing in the dark.

Katie's snoring kept getting louder and louder until it practically made the walls vibrate. I wouldn't have been surprised if she ended up knocking them all the way down; my sister was quite the force of nature, even while passed out with one foot on the floor, trying to stop the room from impersonating a gold medal gymnast.

_Fucking ridiculous. This is the thanks I get for covering for your drunk ass. _I sighed, threw my covers off, gave my back a nice, satisfying stretch, and got out of bed. My day had officially started, even though it was stupid o'clock in the morning and I didn't have to be up for at _least_ six more hours. I dragged myself with a yawn over to my dresser and pulled out a pair of teal spandex shorts and a tight white tank top, figuring I might as well make Papa Fitch proud and start my morning run early.

My father was the owner of Fitch Fitness, a small chain of gyms around the Boston area, and the man practically lived and breathed treadmills and bench-presses. He would have been sorely disappointed to find out I hadn't used my unwanted extra time to get in a decent workout and Emily Fitch was not one to disappoint, so I tied my running shoes tight, padded a _onetwo onetwo _rhythm down the stairs, and ran out the door.

* * *

><p>I tried to take a different route every morning. Plymouth was dull enough as it was and my daily life never had much opportunity for change, so I had to take it where I could get it, even if that only meant taking a left instead of a right at the big oak tree on the corner. There was one thing though, one thing that had stayed the same for as long as I could remember. Without fail, no matter how far or in which direction I ran, I would always end up at the beach. It wasn't an entirely conscious effort, it just always sort of happened, like the moon had somehow decided that I was a wayward part of the tide to be pulled in. Not that I was complaining, mind, I loved the beach. Nothing could bother me when I was there; it was too peaceful, too simple and safe. It made me feel like a little kid again, hiding away from the scary monsters of the world, tucked away underneath a blanket of sea salt and sand. It was my sanctuary and once I got there, I'd always go hunting for a special kind of spot – secluded but still within sight and earshot of the breaking waves – to sit for a while and just be Emily. I seriously treasured these moments, on some days more than others, but even when I didn't feel I particularly <em>needed<em> them, I always wanted them, enjoyed them. Because even the best day can be made better by doing something you love, and I really, really loved just being.

The delightful start to this morning had edged the beach far past a want and settled it securely into more of a deep, burning need, so I ran faster than normal, hoping to get there as soon as possible. My feet hammered fast and steady on the sidewalk and I imagined that the little holes in the concrete came together in the shape of Katie's face as I pounded down on top of them. It gave me much more satisfaction than it should have.

I loved my sister to death, and not just because it was a well-known fact of the universe that you were required to care for someone you had shared a uterus with. I honestly, genuinely loved her, but she had a habit of putting that through some pretty fucking rigorous testing. The next time she made me stay home to feed our mother some stupid alibi so she could go out, get fucked up and fucked, and then come back and ruin my very precious few hours of sleep, I decided I would…well I didn't really know what I would do. I couldn't very well sacrifice her to our mother; nothing Katie could ever do would make her deserve that.

The wrath of our mom made the fires of hell look like the flickering flames on a candle wick. There was nothing motherly about an angry Jenna Fitch, nothing more frightening or dangerous, and I had the bruises to prove it. Only me though, it was only ever me that got hit, never Katie. Katie was loved because Katie could pretend to fit right into the cookie-cutter lifestyle that my mom would do anything to maintain. I couldn't. I was too 'Emily'and not enough 'Jenna Fitch 2.0' for my mom to ever truly, unconditionally love me the way a mother should.

She resented me for not being a plastic, factory-made, programmable little doll, for not being Katie (or at least the Katie that she knew), and she took it out on me the only way she knew how; behind closed doors with hands and feet and words that hurt even worse than both combined.

I resented myself for not being like Katie, for not being able to put on a show like she did, to be someone that I wasn't, and I took it out on myself the only way I knew how; becoming no one, withdrawing myself completely. If I couldn't pretend to be someone else, I could at least hide who I really was, keep my personality locked away, not put my 'me-ness' on display. It was painful for me to hide, but necessary. The treatment I got for being a shell would be nothing compared to what I would face if I dared to be me.

I ran out of my neighborhood, through the streets of the next one over, down a dirt road and past homes hidden behind trees and mile-long lawns. I ran back out and all the way to downtown Plymouth with only the thoughts of my mother and twin to keep me company. I wasn't getting any less upset, the bitterness refused to fade and I was busy slamming my foot down extra hard against a part of the sidewalk with an almost comically high resemblance to Katie when my feet finally lead me within sight of the beach. I changed course immediately and pushed my body harder than before as my dad's gruff voice started running through my mind, faster and faster as it tried to keep up with my legs. _"Finish strong, Emsy. Come on, love. You're a Fit Fitch; you've got to finish strong."_ So I did just that.

I did everything in my power to sprint the last bit of anger and frustration out of my limbs as I neared the oceanfront. That kind of stuff doesn't mix well with the sound of seagulls and the tempo of the tide. That kind of stuff just does not belong at the beach, so as soon as I reached the shoreline, I took off my shoes, wriggled my toes into the still cold pre-dawn sand, and tilted my head back to face the dim twinkling of the stars. I took a deep lungful of air that I was convinced was actually magic and held it in for as long as I could before waving goodbye to my troubles with a long, loud exhale. And then I started walking.

* * *

><p>It didn't take long before I found a reason to stop wandering, but it wasn't the one I went looking for. I had just stopped to catch my breath after trudging up a nightmarishly steep sand dune when I saw something totally bizarre from my new vantage point. Fire. I saw actual fire, off in the distance from where I stood recovering. Naturally, as it usually does in these types of situations, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go check it out.<p>

Unfortunately, going down steep dunes really isn't much easier than climbing up them and I did that tremendously awkward running-jumpy thing that people do when their legs want to move faster than their bodies can make them all the way to the bottom. Once I landed and managed to re-harness control of my limbs and regain my balance, I noticed that in all my elegant flailing around, I had kicked up enough sand to cover practically every inch of my body.

"Fuck's sake, Emily. Might as well have rolled down." I muttered to myself while twisting my waist this way and that, trying find the best angle to swat at the stubborn sand on my back.

"Hi."

Apparently I shouldn't have even bothered dusting myself off because that voice came out of absolutely _nowhere_ and sent me flying right back into the sand again with what I'm sure was a very intimidating yelp.

I scrambled back up to my feet, brushed off _again_, and tried to find the right direction to shoot my glare into, but the sun hadn't risen yet and it's hard to do these kinds of things in the moonlight.

"Over here."

I jumped again and tripped over my feet, scarcely avoiding a third sand bath in about half as many minutes, but at least the voice came from somewhere this time and I turned to face it.

It came from a girl, maybe about my age, sitting cross-legged in the sand a few paces to my right. I walked closer to her because, from where I stood, she stayed hidden in the shadows between the dunes and I wanted to put a face to the voice that nearly stopped my nineteen year old heart. The closer I got, the more I felt my anger fade. I couldn't even find it in me to be surprised because this girl, with her pale skin and wild wavy hair, looked like she just _belonged_ right in this moment. Like she was made for moonlight and mystery and scaring the utter shit out of unsuspecting strangers just because she could. I wanted to be mad at her, I wanted to yell and demand some kind of explanation, but it felt wrong and pointless, like getting upset with a foreigner for speaking in their language instead of yours. There's no sense in being angry with someone because you don't understand the things that come naturally to them. And this? This I knew right away was a natural as breathing for the strange person smirking up at me.

"Well, that was unexpected." I told her once my cardiovascular system was functioning properly again. "It's, uh, nice to meet you I guess? My name's Emily."

Her smirk widened to dangerous proportions. I couldn't decide if it made her more beautiful or more intimidating. Maybe both. "I'm Effy. Pleasure." she languidly extended her arm upwards and kept her wrist limp and dangling. I assumed she was waiting for a handshake, so I took her hand in mine and shook hastily. She didn't let go.

"Help me up."

It wasn't a request. I don't think I could have said no even if it was. "Oh okay. Sure." I pulled her up smoothly and easily, not needing Effy's help at all to get her to her feet. She looked taken aback, even though she probably weighed less than a phonebook. Then again, I was used to that type of reaction whenever someone discovered how strong I was. It generally came as a shock to most people that the shy little redheaded girl in the corner could probably finish a triathlon before they were halfway through their first lap.

"Well, that was unexpected." Effy repeated my words from earlier, smirk back in full force. "Wonder what else you're hiding."

"My dad's a fitness instructor." I shrugged "And I'm hiding plenty. We did just meet after all."

"No one hides as much as they think they do." Effy said profoundly, staring right at me. It was odd, the way she did it. Like she wasn't just seeing everything about me (which would have been more than unnerving enough on its own), it felt like she was waving a treat and whistling at the scared and trembling little puppy inside of me, coaxing it out from its hiding spot underneath the bed with her eyes. She was pulling everything out of me, willing it all to come out into the open and getting a much better look at the things that kept me up at night than I wanted her too. And then, suddenly, she wasn't. Suddenly, her back was facing me and she was walking away, in the direction of the fire I had all but forgotten about. I tried to ask her where she was going, but she answered my question before I had a chance to voice it. "Come on. I want you to meet the others."

"What? There are _more_ of you?" I asked alarmed. I didn't know if I wanted to meet the people that Effy kept company with. The thought was kind of terrifying.

"Yes Emily, there are." she turned around and eyed me seriously, "I'm actually part of a group of escaped clones. You mustn't tell anyone you've seen me. It's a matter of national security." Her face looked so earnest that I thought she may have honestly believed the pure lunacy spewing out of her mouth. We looked at each other, neither of us saying a word and I kept rapidly docking her sanity points until she allowed the barest hint of that already familiar curl of her lips to creep back onto her face.

"Oh god I thought you were being serious for a second! I mean, I didn't think you really were a clone – obviously – just that you maybe believed that you were? I thought you were insane!" I laughed nervously and curled, uncurled, re-curled my toes into the sand, forcing myself to maintain eye contact.

Something dark flashed across her face, but it was gone too quickly for me to decipher. I knew instinctively that she didn't want me to see it and I imagined it would take a whole host of CIA trained analysts to decrypt any emotion that broke free of Effy's grasp, so I never really stood much of a chance anyways. "You would have been right, then. I am. Very insane. Now come on, let's go meet my friends, shall we?"

I stood frozen and slack-jawed, watching her slink off towards the fire. Did she honestly think I was going to follow her? She couldn't possibly expect me to follow her after that.

Effy must have noticed that I hadn't moved because she only got a few feet away before she pivoted back towards me and sighed, unimpressed. "Relax Emily. I'm not actually insane. And neither are my friends." She paused for a second, seemingly to consider something, "Well, not in a drown-them-in-medication kind of way, at least. You should meet them. Seriously."

"Why?"

"Because you'll like them." She said certainly, as if it was a concrete fact, like I had just asked her if the sky was blue or if 2 plus 2 equaled 4. "Just come on already. I'm not going to beg and, really, do you have anything better to do?

I really didn't, but something told me Effy already knew that, so I didn't bother answering. "Alright, fine. Lead the way."

* * *

><p>We walked side by side for a while and somewhere along the way the silence between us became companionable. Eventually, though, it was broken, but not by either of us. My ears began to pick up on the sound of music, coming from the direction Effy was steering us into. Someone was singing and strumming away on a guitar and they were doing it very, very well. As we got nearer, I could clearly make out the words being sung and the notes being played and I was blown away by how flawless they sounded.<p>

_When I jerk away _

_From holding hands with you_

_I know these habits hurt _

_Important parts of you_

I recognized the song. It was one of my favorites and I had listened to it countless times, but I had never heard it sound so beautiful. I had never heard anything sound so beautiful.

_Remember when I was_

_Sweet and unexplainable_

_Nothing like this person_

_Unlovable_

The music kept getting louder and a sudden thought sprung into my mind, something I probably should have realized quite a ways back. There was a fire, Effy's group of friends somewhere nearby, and someone playing a song on their guitar. You mix all those things together and you've got the textbook recipe for a bonfire on the beach. This train of thought led me straight to another, one that started stirring around excitedly in my stomach; if I was right and Effy was leading me to a bonfire, that meant she must know the owner of that voice. That was a logical conclusion, right? _Please be a logical conclusion._

"Effy what – do you know who that is? She's incredible."

_I just want back into your head_

_I just want back into your head_

_I'm not unfaithful but I'll stray_

Incredible was an understatement. Every sound in the world that thought itself beautiful should have been jealous and bowing at the feet of this girl's voice. I wanted, no,_ needed_ to meet her.

_When I get a little scared_

_When I get a little scared_

"That would be my best friend. And yes, she is."

I couldn't stop the grin from spreading across my face. Effy knew her. I wanted to do a little dance and jump around like a teenager who just found out they were lucky caller number 5 and had won tickets to that sold-out concert they were dying to go to. Effy was best fucking friends with her. My heart was making weird jerky motions in my chest, like it couldn't decide between stopping entirely or trying to squeeze a lifetime's worth of beats into a few moment's time. I was nervous. I was excited. I was actually going to meet this girl. I started walking as fast as I could over the uneven sand, barely restraining myself from breaking out and running full pelt toward the bonfire.

Much to my displeasure, the rest of Effy's friends blocked my view of the singer. There was a blonde pigtailed girl wearing so many outrageous colors it looked like she had been dragged blindfolded and backwards through a rainbow. Katie would have gone catatonic at the sight of her. She was sitting practically in the lap of a dark-skinned boy whose smile matched the fire, bright and warm. On his right was a boy with braces and brown, untamed curly hair, sitting to the left of a lanky guy with tan skin and shaggy, dark hair. An empty chair that I guessed was Effy' separated him from a sandy blonde boy with a huge grin in his eyes who was lip-syncing dramatically and making stagy hand motions in time with the music. And then, right next to him, only a few dozen feet away now, there was the singer. I stumbled over the sand when I saw her. She was even more beautiful than her voice, and I hadn't even properly seen her face yet. It didn't matter though, I could tell from the quickest of glimpses that she was the most gorgeous thing ever created. With her platinum blonde hair and the way it fell just past her collarbone that peeked out tantalizingly from underneath a loose, light green tank top. With her endlessly long legs, shown off in almost all their glory by faded black, floral-patterned shorts that really should have come with a warning sign, and the way they were crossed and folded into each other on the worn-down camping chair. With her head tilted down and the way her eyes scrunched shut and her hands strummed fast as she poured emotion into the song.

_When I get a little scared_

_When I get a little_

_Run, run, run_

_Run_

Effy and I were close now, almost right next to her friends and their fire, so we stopped walking and listened. I could feel the heat of the flames.

_Run, run, run_

_Run_

Running was the absolute last thing on my mind at that moment. I was already having enough trouble breathing just standing there in awe of this girl. I wasn't about to run, or even walk, away to any place where I couldn't see or hear her.

The song ended and suddenly the dirty blonde boy damn near exploded with laughter. I took several quick steps away from the fire, afraid it might react to the atomic bomb of sound that just dropped next to it.

"You should see your face, girl!" He pointed wildly at me while looking around at his friends, "Guys, guys, look at her face. She's completely Stonemed!"

Everyone else, apart from the devastatingly attractive blonde now furrowing her eyebrows in a way that was so adorable I couldn't even begin to make sense of it and fiddling intently with her guitar, started laughing hard along with him, apparently sharing some inside joke. I blushed furiously. I knew I would have been nearly monochromatic, what with the red heat of the fire lighting up my cherry colored hair and freshly blood-rushed cheeks. I probably looked like a human Hot Tamale candy, the kind you can get for a quarter in those little machines at the grocery store. I felt worth about as much too, the way they all kept clinging onto the sides of their chairs to avoid taking a laughter-fueled dive right into the flames at my expense. The blonde still wasn't laughing though, seemingly off in her own world of tuning and tweaking, so I just kept my eyes on her. Not that I needed an excuse.

"Stop being dicksplashes." Okay so apparently Effy hadn't laughed either. "You're embarrassing her. Besides, it's not my fault," she paused and let out a snicker, but seemed able to muscle the rest of her laughter back into its cage "– she looks more like she's just had her Campbell rung." Scratch that, there she went, doubling over and cackling like a madwoman. Something else was happening though, something I was paying far more attention too. The blonde's head had snapped up, just before Effy finished her sentence, and her eyes locked with mine for the first time.

It was downright insane, the effect this woman had on me. My entire body and all of its senses kicked into overdrive while the rest of the world screeched to a halt and became this swirling, blurry mess in the background because her eyes were more perfect than any person's ever had any right to be. Every part of her was like that, really, but my _god,_ her_ eyes._ They were hypnotic, like powerful pale blue tractor beams and I was trapped. I couldn't look away even if I tried. I desperately wanted to introduce myself, nothing fancy, just a simple, "Hi, I'm Emily" would have been fine, but I couldn't because, at that moment, I didn't even know if I _was_ Emily. I didn't know anything at all except that in a few seconds, in a single glance, my life had changed. Something cosmic just clicked into place and I really hoped she felt it too, because I had no idea what to do next. As I stood there, gaping like an idiot, another thought slowly managed to formulate itself in the blob of scrambled mush trying to pass as my brain:

Katie was now officially and completely absolved of all crimes against my sleep cycle. That, and she was going to be tackled into the hug to end all hugs the very instant I got home.

* * *

><p><strong>That be chapter uno. Chapter two is in the works, if it's of any concern to you lovely, lovely people of fandom.<strong>

**(This is the part where I ask for reviews without asking for reviews.)**

**oh, P.S. the song is Back in Your Head by Tegan and Sara. If you don't know it, shame on you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I forgot to mention that this story is going to be set in America because, well, I'm American and know I would fail miserably at using British English. Sorry if that bothers anyone. Also, sorry if there are any mistakes that I didn't catch, but my brain is not working right now. My weekend activities kind of put it in a coma, I think. Let's pray for a quick recovery cause I have a math exam at 6.**

**Disclaimer: :(**

"Naomi dear, hurry up. You said you would help set up the bonfire." My mom hollered up at me from the ground. I really wasn't that surprised that she found me. Star-gazing in trees isn't the most inconspicuous of hobbies.

"I know, I know. I'm coming, just let me get down and get everyone else." I tore my eyes from the sky and shifted off the branch. It took some concentration; I had picked the highest possible spot to perch on without having to fear for my life and if I happened to slip off, the fall would not be a very pretty thing. After wriggling around a bit, I found sure footing on the branch beneath me and started navigating my way down through the maze of branches leading me back to Earth. When I got to the last one, I swung over the edge, but kept my grip tight, so that I dangled off it, still several feet from the ground, as I looked down at my mother, "Why are you even awake?" I narrowed my eyes questioningly, "It's already past midnight. Normal people your age would be passed out and snoring really unattractively by now."

"That's an awful thing to say! _Normal._" she shuddered with a face like she had just swallowed a combination of orange juice and toothpaste, "Good lord. Stop insulting me and get a move on. You promised."

I laughed and let go, hitting the ground with a soft thud. "You're right, that is a horrible word. Certainly doesn't apply to you. Don't know _what_ I was thinking. Forgive me?" I stood up straight with an apologetic look so cheesy it was almost edible.

She linked her arm through mine and laughed back, "I always do, darling. Besides, it's not like you're normal either. And thank heavens for that; I wouldn't have the foggiest idea what to do with you if you were."

We started the trek back to the makeshift campground assembled four nights ago, three days after our little troupe's arrival in Plymouth. It was nothing more than a large clearing in the middle of a span of woods, right in between a busy road and the beach. It probably violated several different laws to have even one RV parked there, but none of us ever had any kind of affinity for obeying the rules, so we parked all four of ours there regardless, one on each side of the perfectly square field. I made sure Effy and I got the side closest to the beach.

"I never had a chance with you in charge of my upbringing. That probably would have gone down in history as the most supreme act of rebellion ever. I know I'm good, Mom, but I'm not _that_ good."

"Oh hush you." She tugged on my arm and made me lurch into her side. I knew she could tell I smiled at her, even though she couldn't see it, because I felt her smiling back at me. "Come along, walk faster. I want to get this fire started."

Our arms stayed joined as we moved through the trees and dodged fallen branches together. I wondered if she knew how much it meant to me, being able to be like this with her again. If she remembered as well as I did all the years spent with barely a word spoken that wasn't about dinners going cold or laundry soap running low. Did she ever think about how much farther we had yet to go, despite all the ground we had covered in three short years? I wondered about a lot of things, but what puzzled me the most was why it was so hard to change, without the right reason, and why we never really tried hard enough to be each other's reasons.

"Sweetheart, get out of your head. We're back. Go round up the troops and gather the chairs and firewood and whatnot. I'll go wake up my hibernating bear of a husband and we'll meet you down there" She unlinked our arms and gave me a little shove towards the door of my and Effy's RV, "You do remember the spot we picked out don't you?"

"Of course, mother. How could I forget? You were embarrassingly excited when you found it. It made quite the impression, especially on that poor family trying to relax on the beach. They practically teleported away from us."

She flicked her hand dismissively and pffted, "They were just uptight. A little enthusiasm never hurt anyone. You should give it a try sometime."

I paused with my hand on the door latch and twisted around to glare at her, only half serious. "I _am_ enthusiastic. Just not about stupid things. Stupid things like the difference in _'karmic energy'_ between two identical spots of sand less than 10 feet away from each other. Besides, even if I wasn't, you have more than enough enthusiasm for the both of us. And everyone else, for that matter." I opened the door and closed it behind me before she could respond and immediately regretted it, throwing my hands over my eyes and wishing I had stayed outside, or at least knocked first.

"COOK! For the millionth and _last_ time; get your fucking hand out of your pants. I swear to God if you're jacking off on my couch again I will-"

Cook's laughter bounced off the walls too loudly for me to even think, much less complete a sentence, "Relax, Naomikins. I ain't playing with myself. Just keepin' Little Cookie company, is all."

I unshielded my face and grimaced, "Eugh Cook. Just don't. Take it out and go like, wash it, or something." His face lit up and I knew exactly where his mind went, "Your hand! Your hand!" I squealed, "Not your dick. Christ. Although," I added in after-thought, "that could probably do with a decent wash as well."

Predictably, he just threw his head back against the couch and laughed harder. He couldn't tell that I was serious. Cook always had a hard time understanding serious.

"I can't, man. I got everything arranged just the way I like it."

"I don't give a shit. Do _that,_" I made a circle motion down at his crotch, "when I can see you again and I'll rearrange you in a way that you _really_ will not like."

He arched his head backwards over the edge of its spot on the sofa's armrest and squinted at me upside-down, "What's the big deal, Blondie? How's it any diff'rent from you reaching in and adjustin' your tits when they get all uncomfortable and shit in your bra?"

_Shit. _I balked. _That's actually a good point._ I had to stop and think for a second. Only a second though, and then I fired back.

"Easy." I smugly tilted my head to the side and smirked. "Your cock is gross. My tits are not."

Cook howled with laughter and banged around on the couch so hard he almost rolled off the cushions, "Too right, Naomikins." He settled down to only a few throaty chuckles, "Too fuckin' right."

"Whatever, Cook. Come help set up the bonfire." I walked to the other end of the camper, grabbed my guitar case from off my bed, then spun around and marched right back outside, carefully holding the case and purposefully ignoring Cook's saluted "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!" on the way.

He was out the door and springing up to me like a happy little Jack Russell terrier before I took three steps away from the camper. "What's the plan, Sarge? General Gina given us orders?" he came up to walk next to me and bumped me on the shoulder with a face like a boy poking at an anthill with a stick. I knew Cook well enough to know that all he wanted was a reaction, and he knew me well enough to know that I would humor him. I rolled my eyes dramatically and added a huff for good measure and his grin lost its mischief, but stretched even wider, satisfied with his reward. "_We're_ going to go grab everyone else, _you're_ going to help them carry back chairs and firewood, and _I'm_ going to lead us all to the spot where Mom wants everything set up."

"Hang on why don't you ha–"

"Because I'm already carrying this." I swung my guitar case up into his line of sight for emphasis, "and I wouldn't want to risk damaging it, now would I?"

"Cheater."

"No. I just care more about my guitar."

He froze mid-step, bent over in mock pain, and thumped a hand against his chest, "Ouch, Blondie. That really hurt." He flicked a fake tear away from his eye, "Hurt me deep, that did."

"You'll survive." I pushed his back to get him to start walking again, "It's only a few old chairs and pieces of wood. Surely a big, strong, man like you can handle it." I squeezed his bicep mockingly. It would have been a much more effective taunt if there was less muscle to wrap my hand around.

"Stronger than you, little girl."

I gasped and glared at him, "James Cook. You take that back right now!"

"Prove me wrong then. Carry the case and a chair." He shot me a wicked smile. He knew full well I couldn't turn down a challenge like that. The inner feminist in me wouldn't stand for it.

"That's not fair!"

"Sure it is."

"I'm not talking about carrying the shit."

"I know."

"You're a sneaky little fucker."

"Sure am."

"God, do you two ever stop?" _Speaking of sneaky little fuckers. _I didn't jump or even falter a step. Neither did Cook. "Oh hey Ef. We're actually just on our way to get you guys. We've got to go start the bonfire."

"Figured." She fell into stride with us, her silent way of agreeing to help.

"Where's the rest of the lot, then?" Cook asked her

"Right over at Panda and Thomas's," she pointed to the RV nearby, "playing some board game. I just left to find you guys. I got, well, bored."

I scoffed, "When aren't you bored?"

"More bored than usual, then." she retorted dryly, "Come on, walk faster. The moon won't shine forever."

X

"That's the dare. Gonna do it or not?"

"No. Absolutely _not_, Freddie. You're all crazy."

"Aw come on Naoms! It'd be wicked cool and super mega brave! Braver than Thommo when I made him squish that creepy mutant crawly bug 'cause it gave me the willies. And that was, like, _really_ brave, like a hero from that movie with all the other heroes and powers and capes and stuff, don'tcha think?"

"No way, Panda. I am not, and let me repeat NOT, going swimming in the ocean after you guys have thrown meat into it, no matter how much you're all willing to pay me or how drunk I am."

"Thought you couldn't turn down a dare."

"I'm not turning down a dare, Effy; I'm turning down a freaking suicide mission!"

"Don't be such a drama queen Blondie, Cookie'll keep you safe."

"Drama queen? Do you _know _what that meat will lure in? There are _sharks_ in the ocean, Cook! Sharks! And they kind of sort of like meat, in case you've forgotten! What are _you_ going to do agai–"

'Naomi! Naomi! Play another song!"

_Thank you, Gina Campbell, you wonderful distraction you._

I shifted around in my chair to look gratefully over at my mom and saw her swaying next to me with glassy eyes, a plastic cup full of…something, and a freshly lit joint dangling between her lips. The rest of the group shouted noises of agreement, but I ignored them for the moment, too entertained by the picture of parental guidance in front of me.

"No, Mom." I shook my head chuckling, "Not right now. I think you've had enough."

"Oh dear, I can never have enough of your music!" She wobbled over to me, dropped her drink into the cup holder of my chair, and started petting my face in what I assumed was supposed to be a loving gesture, but all it did was make it harder for me to breathe, "It's lovely music, honey. Loveily music."

"I don't mean my playing, Mom." I got tired of swatting her hands away, so I grabbed them and held on instead, "I mean you've had enough illegal substances for one night."

"This," she stole a hand away, picked her drink back up with flourish and sloshed it around, sending at least half of it into the sand, "is perfectly legal for a woman my age, thankyouverymuch."

"Really? What's in it?"

"Well…I don't know that."

"Exactly. I bet this guitar in my lap that something illegal is floating in that liquid. It's time for you to go to bed, old woman."

"Fine, fine. You drink it then. It is passed my bed time anywho." she plopped the drink back in my cup holder and then pinched her brows together, confused, "What time is it, exactly?"

"It's at least 2:30."

"Is it _really_?" she slurred astonished, "Good God, you kids are a bad influence. We all should have been asleep by now."

Laughter came from every chair around the fire at that. Remarkably, Cook recovered first. "Nah, G-Ma. Us children are just gettin' started."

"Oh James, I wish you wouldn't call me that. Call me Gina," she started gesturing sloppily all over the place with her hands, like an orchestra conductor with absolutely no idea what movements to make, so they thought they'd try them all and hope for the best, "or Mom or Ma or Mama or Mum or well, you get the point, just don't call me _that._ Makes me feel like a grandmother. I don't even want to _think_ about you, Naomi or Effy being parents for at least a few more years." she suddenly whipped around to face the other side of the bonfire, where JJ, Freddie, Panda, and Thomas were shaking in silent laughter, "Or any of you either, of course," she added swiftly and then spun back around to me and my two best friends, "It's just, you three, especially. Naomi for obvious reasons, but James and Elisabeth, I love you both just as much. You two are like my children too, you know? You are," she nodded insistently, "and I am a very proud mother. Of all three of you. Very proud of –"

"Right, Mom. Let's get you to bed. I'm sure Kieran's snoring is missing you. I'll walk you back." Effy cut in and stood up to take my mom's arm. I wasn't surprised that she interrupted. In fact, I thought she would have done it sooner, at the first sign of the rambling heading towards drunken over-affection. Effy handled mushiness about as well as Cook handled seriousness.

"You sure, Ef? I can help you if you want. She is biologically my responsibility, after all."

"It's fine. I was going to take a walk anyways. You stay here and do your musical prodigy thing. I'll be back in a bit."

X

"Someone come drink the rest of this. It's rank." I wiped my mouth and lofted the cup with the remainder of my mom's drink in it. It was luke-warm and tasted like the bodily rejections of a senile old man. I was nowhere near intoxicated enough to stomach it, but I was sure someone else had reached that point by now.

"Give it here, Blondie. Nothing the Cookie Monster can't handle." Of course it was Cook. He tilted over in his chair to grab it from me, and then jabbed a finger of the hand now attached to the cup at my face, "On one condition though;" he demanded as seriously as he was capable of at the moment, "you pick up that guitar and play us another tune."

"Fair enough, I was about to anyways." I grabbed my old, perfectly worn-in six string acoustic guitar, adjusted it back into my lap and plucked a few of the strings, checking the tuning. I quickly, skillfully made some small adjustments and started playing. Everyone else started laughing.

"Feeling the gay tonight are we, Naomi?" Freddie teased with a lopsided smile on his face.

"No," I scowled," For one, I am not gay –"

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot. _'Unlabeled',_ then. Carry on."

"Yes, _unlabeled_. It's not a difficult concept, even for someone with THC for brains." I stared at him pointedly, "Secondly, music isn't an indicator of someone's sexuality, Fredrick."

"Well, in the interest of fairness, a significant percentage of their fan base identifies themselves as lesbians, so the assumption isn't entirely unfounded."

I turned my head towards JJ in threateningly slow motion, narrowing my eyes and taking a deep breath through my nose.

"Not helping, Jay." Cook saw the look on my face and spoke up, stopping my building rant in its tracks.

"Please continue playing, Naomi. It's a lovely song and you play it beautifully." Thomas smiled at me, in that special, honest way that he has. I couldn't help but return it.

"Thank you, Thomas. I will." I picked up the song from the beginning again, without any interruption this time.

_Built a wall of books_

_Between us in our bed_

_Repeat, repeat the words_

_That I know we both have said_

_Relax into the need_

_We get so comfortable_

_Remember when I was _

_So strange and likeable_

I glanced up shortly and saw all my friends bobbing their heads to the music, all conversation stopped. I smiled to myself as I looked back down.

_I just want back into your head_

_I just want back into your head_

_I'm not unfaithful but I'll stray_

_When I get a little scared_

_When I get a little scared_

_When I get a little_

I flicked my eyes up again and saw Cook watching me with a small, almost sad smile. If Effy were there, she would have mirrored the expression. They knew, both of them, why this song always seemed to find its way out of my fingers. We never had to talk about it, they just knew. The first time they heard the lyrics, they knew why the words weaved themselves into my mind. I smiled softly back at him before focusing completely on the song.

_When I jerk away_

_From holding hands with you_

_I know these habits hurt _

_Important parts of you_

_Remember when I was_

_Sweet and unexplainable_

_Nothing like this person_

_Unlovable._

I let myself get lost in the rest of the song and when I finished playing the last note, I noticed everyone burst out in laughter again. I ignored them, preferring to tune my guitar for a new song instead, not wanting to stop playing. I only lost focus on the instrument when I heard Effy's voice say my name. I hadn't noticed her return, so I looked up to ask her if my mother made it back in one piece and –

_Holy shit._

I silently thanked whatever powers that may be that I was sitting down, because I had absolutely no doubt I would have tumbled headfirst into the fire pit had I been on my feet. The girl that my eyes landed on was decidedly not Effy. She was staring right at me with big, lively, _beautiful _brown eyes and I stared back for what I'm sure was only seconds, but it felt like entire civilizations could have risen to power and killed each other off while we did nothing except lock eyes. After an indescribable amount of time, I unlocked mine to look at the rest of her. Her dangerously kissable lips. Her hair, dyed a brilliant shade of red, tied up into a messy ponytail and revealing the most glorious neck and collarbones I had ever seen. The urge to get up and go suck and bite at it was so powerful I almost had to check my mouth for fangs. And her body, every toned muscle that her criminally tight workout gear exposed, was just unreal. _She_ was unreal, she had to be. Things like _that_ just don't exist. Perfection is impossible. Apparently, no one had informed her of that, or if they had, she obviously didn't listen. It wasn't fair. This was completely unfair, her perfect body standing there, looking at me with her perfect eyes and her perfect, slightly parted, lips. I wasn't sure what the correct reaction was to being confronted with something that took a fundamental fact of life and chucked it out the window, but I knew it wasn't the one I was having. Something was wrong with me. I could barely breathe. I was thoroughly overheating. I didn't remember the fire being this hot before.

"Seeing as you two have lost the power of speech, I'll take care of the introductions myself. Emily, this is Naomi. Naomi this is Emily. She's a native." Effy said, observing both of us, amused. I hadn't even realized that this woman, this Emily, had yet to speak a word.

"Sorry? I'm a what?"

I would have done a double take, but the first take hadn't ended yet, so I couldn't. _What the fuck was that? _That can't have been her voice. She was small, petite, how could her voice possibly be that husky? And sexy. Really _really_ sexy.The universe had to be playing some kind of joke on me.

This was beyond ridiculous.

"A native? What does that even mean?" Emily spoke again and I had to stop myself from throwing my hands over my face and groaning in exasperation (only exasperation, of course; no other reason at all). _Fuck you, universe. Fuck you very much._

"It means what it means. You are a native." Effy said plainly, helpful as always

"She means you're from around here." Freddie clarified, curving his lips up loosely like the loveable little stoner boy he was, "We're not."

"Yeah, we're homeless. Wanderin' about, you know. Vagabonds." Cook said proudly, spreading his arms and legs out in his chair, one in each direction, looking like a starfish misplaced from the sea, "The world is our oyster." he grinned toothily

"Homeless?" ventured Emily as she watched Cook with questions swirling in the deep brown pools of her eyes.

"Well no, not exactly. We just don't have a conventional home at the moment. We're living out of recreational vehicles. Or RVs, colloquially." JJ chirped with a boyish smile and Emily's eyes darted around the fire from person to person, trying to give equal consideration to everyone attempting conversation with her, and most likely watching out for any sign of who was next.

"Yeah!" Emily jumped as Panda chimed in louder than a cathedral bell at high noon, excitedly bouncing in her chair and grinning insanely, "It's been a ball! Super duper, tons of fun, hasn't it Thommo?"

"Yes Pandora, it has been a wonderful time." Thomas soothed his girlfriend and then beamed a megawatt smile at Emily, who now looked more than a little overwhelmed with all the attention. My friends and I had developed a tendency to speak as a group, one person would finish a sentence and another would pick it up and carry the story on, but not for too long before it ended up in someone else's hands again. It was like a game of verbal hot potato. Emily hadn't had any practice with this and she was clearly struggling to keep up with all six people staring and smiling and speaking at her, so I found my voice and came to her rescue.

"Everyone chill the fuck out." They all promptly turned their focus away from Emily and onto me instead. All of them except for one. "And Cook?" I waited patiently for him to tear his eyes off of the divine reheaded vision in front of us. It took him several seconds and his mouth was still hanging open when he craned his neck leftwards to look at me, "Wipe your chin and stop looking at her like she's a piece of meat." _Wow. Okay. And this year's award for Outstanding Achievements in Hypocrisy goes to…_

His lips slowly crawled out sideways in a puckish, openmouthed grin, "Sorry, Naomikins. Can't help it. But can you blame me, really?"

_No, I really can't. Not even a little bit. _"You are a pig, James. Just knock it off, alright?" I scolded and then rallied every last ounce of confidence I had to turn and speak directly to Emily, trying to ignore the way my breath caught when I met her eyes again "Sorry about them. Him especially." I pointed in Cook's direction, not having to bother looking at him to know that he was still leering openly at her, "They can get a little carried away sometimes. I'm Naomi, but I think Effy may have mentioned that already." I smiled brilliantly at her. I had many different smiles in my arsenal of facial expressions. Happy ones, smug ones, mocking ones, even sad ones, but the one that had just lit up my face felt entirely new and unique. It felt good; better than any smile had before. I was glad Emily got to see it. I thought about reaching out to shake her hand, but ultimately decided against it. I was too afraid to touch her.

"Yeah." her lips twitched amusedly, "I'm Emily, but I think Effy may have mentioned that already." She grinned back at me, her eyes sparkling and crinkling happily at the edges. I lost count of how many breaths I forgot to take as we stayed like that, smiling stupidly at each other until Cook plowed a bulldozer straight through the moment with his usual subtle charm.

"Hey, Emily." She regarded him cautiously, probably wondering where the cocky edge of his voice dropped off to. I already knew, of course. I could only hope she wouldn't deem it safe to jump. "I've got a nice comfy bed about a 10 minute walk away from here. Real springy. Plenty of room for two. What d'ya say, babe? I'll make it well worth your while." He bared his teeth in a predatory smile and bobbed his eyebrows at her. I wanted to rip them off his face.

Emily rapidly glanced back at me with an arched eyebrow and a look that clearly said, _'Is he serious?' _I grimaced an '_I'm afraid so.'_ in reply and her eyes widened as they shot back over to Cook.

"Um, no…thanks? I think I'll stay here." Her eyes flicked over to me again for the briefest of moments before falling to the sand and I noticed the beginnings of a smirk on Effy's face. I raised my eyebrows at her in silent question and she just smirked wider before throwing a meaningful sideways glance and a jerk of the head towards Emily. I followed Effy's lead and caught Emily peeking up at me through her unbelievably thick, long eyelashes, but she ripped her eyes away at lightning speed and I didn't get the chance to wonder what they held.

"What's the problem, Little Red? You want it, I want it. Let's get together and make a night of it." Cook hounded her again and Emily shook her head animatedly with a contrastingly quiet, "No, really. I'm fine here." and went bright red with embarrassment.

"Oh believe me; I know just how fine you are." he winked, still not understanding that his efforts to get to Emily only dug him deeper into a hole, "But you'd be finer alone with me."

The color of my face went from pale to Emily in less time than Cook could blink, but for an entirely different reason, "Jesus Christ, Cook! Can't you just give it a fucking rest for once? She said no!" I snapped and then cowered when seven pairs of eyes flew over to me in shock. I would have looked at myself the same way if I could have. Cook honestly meant no harm. He just got a bit colorblind when it came to crossing lines, confusing red for green and driving on when he should have hit the brakes. And sometimes he kept going even when he knew the line was red, just for the thrill of it, but I knew he would never intentionally cause any harm, we all did. It was just different this time. Emily was different.

"Sorry." I mumbled and tapped out an uneasy beat against the body of my guitar with my thumb, "It's just, aggravating, you know? I mean, she's a person…" I trailed off lamely and tapped harder, biting my lip and trying to avoid everyone's gaze. I couldn't avoid Effy's, though. Her and her fucking heat-seeking missile eyes. If she wanted you to look at her, you were going to look at her. You had no say in the matter. It was going to happen, whether you liked it or not. Effy had no qualms about friendly fire, not even best-friendly fire, and she was staring me down in that infuriatingly knowing way that only she could pull off so well. I could practically hear her sing-songing in my head:

_I know what you're think-ing_

_You can't hide from me-e_

_Read my mind now, bitch._ I mentally gave her the finger and the smirk that I got in return told me she received the message loud and clear.

"Cookie doesn't mean to offend, but, seeing as she's a person and all, why don't we let her decide for herself?" Cook stepped up his game with a filthy tongue waggle and Emily looked about two seconds away from sprouting wings and feathers and attempting to find out just how far she could bury her head in the sand. I sat up straighter in my chair, stunned and speechless. Not because of Cook's unrelenting persistence, that I totally expected, but at Emily's obvious discomfort at being wanted. My brain couldn't comprehend why the most desirable woman in existence was shuffling around shy and uneasy under a lustful eye. I figured she had to dodge puddles of drool everywhere she walked; surely she had to be used to it by now, right?

"I really don't think she's interested, Cook." Effy spoke evenly, but her eyes betrayed little flickers of amusement.

"And how would you know?" Cook challenged. He really should have known better. Effy was as close to infallible as any mere mortal could be.

"Well, apart from her saying no twice and refusing to bring her eyes anywhere near yours, I just have a feeling that _you_ don't interest her in _that_ way. Isn't that right, Emily dear?"

Emily's eyes doubled in size, "Shut up!" she hissed and kicked a wave of sand at Effy's legs. It was ineffective; my friend still looked impossibly pleased with herself.

"So…" she drawled and addressed the group, "I was thinking of playing a game. What do you think, Em?" she set her sights back on the defenseless redhead, "You can…" she paused to unleash the full power of her smirk and arch her eyebrow, "play for Naomi's team."

Emily and I both zipped our eyes towards each other at the exact same time, considered the implications of that statement, reached a conclusion, and then abruptly, simultaneously broke eye contact with matching blushes. Sand had never interested me before, but I suddenly found the little crystalized grains fascinating.

Up until this point, I hadn't even considered the possibility of Emily being attracted to me in the same way I was to her. The thought wasn't unpleasant, quite the opposite actually, but it was huge and heavy and took up way too much space in my mind. It already felt like I had a washing machine between my ears, with all the thoughts swirling and tumbling, getting tangled up in each other and this was not helping in the slightest. This was like trying to shove that thick quilt my grandmother had spent two entire summers knitting into a very full load in the middle of its spin cycle.

"I need a drink." I blurted, whipping the guitar off my lap and getting to my feet in one swift motion. I badly needed to clear some of these thoughts. Alcohol seemed a likely solution.

"Though luck, Naomio. We're fresh out."

"What? No…" I stopped short and looked at Cook imploringly, "That's not possible." It totally was and I knew it. I circled my eyes around the fire to all the guilty faces of my friends and whined, "_Why_ is all the alcohol gone?" A chorus of mumbled sorrys, nervous neck scratches and awkward throat clearings was all I got in response. I rolled my eyes, "Well, is there any back at the campsite at least?" this time I got a series of emphatic nods. "Great. In that case, I'll be right back." I headed off towards the RVs, but only left about five footprints before it occurred to me that I might have been a bit of a bitch, so I turned around and walked back, stopping right next to Emily, "Sorry," I gave her a friendly smile, "Did you want anything?"

I could see the scale tipping in her eyes as she weighed her options before responding, "Yeah, I kind of do, if you don't mind. What do you have?"

"We have…actually I don't know what we have." I faced everyone around the fire. Effy had joined them, sitting cross-legged in the sand in front of Freddie, leaning against his legs, leaving me and Emily standing alone together. It was a deliberate move on her part, "What do we have?" I asked them. They answered with a collective silent shrug. "No one knows what we have?" A collective silent head shake. "Have you all spontaneously gone mute?" another collective head shake. I clenched my jaw, "Converted to Buddhism and joined the monkhood?" and yet another, each one feeding my frustration, "Practicing for a silent film audition?" I said through gritted teeth, but still got nothing but synchronized, robotic head shakes. I wanted to scream, but held most of it back and settled for a marginally raised voice, "Then is someone going to start using their _fucking_ words?" No answer, but to their credit, they at least had the sense to keep their heads completely still this time. "Fucking useless." I sighed as I looked back at Emily, "Sorry. Again." I rolled my eyes good-naturedly and gave her what I hoped was a reassuring smile, "They aren't usually this weird, I swear." I didn't know why I was defending them. It's not like I cared if Emily liked them or anything.

"It's alright." she smiled "No harm done." That was probably why; I wanted to keep her smiling. I liked it when she smiled. I could feel myself slipping as I looked at her, really looked at her, up close and personal, getting completely lost in eyes that somehow managed to be warm and bright, despite their deep, dark brown color. I was vaguely aware of another one of those unfamiliar smiles slipping onto my face when someone around the fire coughed loudly and I found myself again.

"Right so," I cleared my throat and rubbed my neck, mainly as a reminder that I could still make use of my basic motor skills, "Alcohol. Why don't you give me a few options and I'll grab one that we do have? And if we don't have any of them, I'll just make an uneducated guess and bring you back something else?"

"How about – could I –" she bit her lip, "could I just come with you?"

I gulped. _Oh fuck._ I desperately wanted to say no, but my tongue held its ground and refused to cooperate when she looked at me like that, all doe-eyed and hopeful, like me saying yes would be the equivalent of buying a little girl a pony for her birthday.

"Sure." I squeaked "Why not? That makes sense, doesn't it?" I giggled, high-pitched and off-key and immediately wanted to slap myself for it. With no small amount of trepidation, I slowly crept my eyes over to Effy and Cook, dreading to find out if they heard it or not. They weren't even trying to contain or conceal the knowing grins splitting both their faces in two, telling me what I already guessed; they most definitely did hear it and an inescapable avalanche of teasing was hurtling my way. I had to get out of there before it started snowing. I grabbed Emily's wrist, shook off the pulse of electric current that jolted through me, made a mental note to wear insulated gloves if I ever planned on touching her again, and tried to be as gentle as possible as I dragged her unceremoniously away from the bonfire.

"Come on, it's getting late. Or early. Or whatever." I shook my head roughly, trying to gain some clarity, "Just come on."

I lead us over to the tree line and soon the loose sand of the beach started becoming denser, changing into dirt at the edge of the woods. I pulled Emily with me into the trees as I found the small path that lead to where I needed to go. We walked along it, framed on either side by tall trees that blotted out most of the moonlight, and stepping over the occasional forest-y obstruction. Our paced was rushed and although I might have postponed getting trapped in the storm being brewed by my two best friends, I couldn't escape the nagging feeling that I wasn't even remotely out of danger, that I was walking off through the woods arm and arm with a full-blown natural disaster.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Ello again. Thank you all so much for the reviews, really. I didn't expect to get any feedback, like, at all, much less a shout out from FitchSwitch (Is it appropriate to fangirl a fangirl? I don't care. You can't stop me). And to utterchaos: that song is BRILLIANT! I just downloaded it and I CAN'T STOP PLAYING IT. It's so summery I just can't stop.**

**Sorry it took a bit longer than I wanted to update. Life got all…lifey on me. Also, this one got away from me a bit. Hope ya'll don't mind. All mistakes are mine and mine alone.**

**Oh one more thing: Polyvore. This story has one. The link is in my profile.**

**Disclaimer: Pretending is nice sometimes**

* * *

><p>"Naomi! Naomi, slow down, please! My legs are like the length of your forearm; I cannot move this fast. I've almost tripped like four times!" I really had, too. I didn't want to complain, especially not to or about this gorgeous girl, but there was no way I could keep up with the pace she was untiringly pulling me through the small forest in.<p>

She stopped so abruptly I nearly ran right into her back. I took a reflexive step back as she whirled around, wide-eyed yet somehow still managing to keep an ironclad grip on my wrist, "Oh shit! I'm sorry, I didn't even realize. Are you okay? You're not hurt, right?" she looked at me with such genuine concern that I probably would have said yes even if it wasn't true, even if my body was in tatters, all bloodied, bruised and broken.

'I'm fine, don't worry about it." I smiled at her and watched it wipe away the anxiety on her face, "Just…smaller strides this time maybe."

"Yeah, yeah of course." she nodded, but apparently didn't realize her hand was still clutching my wrist. As much as I enjoyed the contact, it severally elevated my chances of face-planting into the dirt, and I reluctantly decided to remind Naomi of this.

"And, um, it might also help if you let go of me?"

"Fuck, sorry." she immediately dropped my arm, as if it had just morphed into the king of all cobras, hood raised and ready to strike. "I didn't mean to, you know," she gestured weakly at my arm, looking at it like it hadn't quite morphed back yet, "or go so fast it's just they were being all weird and I wanted to get away quickly so I grabbed you so we could go faster and, fuck, I shouldn't have grabbed you I'm such an idiot sometimes I'm sorry I –"

My eyes widened more and more with each word she spoke, not because of what she was saying, but because it should not be humanly possible for someone to speak that much that quickly without taking a breath or a pause. "Naomi, stop!" I laughed, "_Breathe._ Breathe before you ramble yourself to death. It's _fine_, really. Relax." I dragged the last word out and held my palms up, pushing them down through the air slowly, calmingly, maybe a little mockingly. She took a deep breath. "Better?" I smirked.

'Yes." she grumbled sheepishly, looking down at the forest floor and stabbing her toe at a few of the sticks and dry leaves she saw there.

I tried to hold back the laugh, really I did, but it snuck out anyways and did nothing to quell her embarrassment. I rushed to correct the damage before she kicked a hole in the ground, "Seriously, it's okay. It was more funny than anything else, honest."

"Okay, if you say so." She accepted unconvincingly, "I _am_ sorry though. About my friends, too. They're a bit odd." she wrinkled her nose at the thought. It was adorable, so completely fucking adorable that I had to fight the sudden urge to swoon like a preteen. I had to play it cool. Cool was good. I could be cool.

"Mmm," I hummed, faking contemplation "I can see why you get along." I grinned widely to let her know I was only teasing.

"That's not very nice," she playfully narrowed her beautiful blue eyes, "You're supposed to tell me that they weren't weird at all and that it was lovely to meet them."

"Well, it was certainly lovely to meet yo- some of you. Not so sure about Cook, though. Is he always like that?"

"Only when he's trying to get a girl into bed. Believe it or not, his success rate is well above 50 percent." She paused, thoughtful. "He's usually not _that_ bad, though; the prettier the girl, the sleazier the Cook."

For all of two seconds, I thought I imagined the hidden meaning in that sentence, but the embarrassed, slightly panicked look that surged onto her face told me it wasn't wishful thinking. She called me pretty. Naomi thought I was attractive; very attractive if those words were anything to go by.

I refused to read too far into that, tried to stop myself from getting carried away, but the butterflies in my stomach had other ideas. They took hold and fluttered me up higher and higher to places where that statement meant much more than it did on the ground. My head was flooded with images; joined hands and matching sets of footprints in wet, salty sand, junk food and junk movies on a junky old comfy couch, all kinds of things, all of it together, just me and Naomi. Sooner or later, though, all bubbles have to pop and so mine did at the sound of my name.

"Emily?"

"Huh? What? Yeah?" she raised an eyebrow at my confusion and I swallowed, hoping she had no idea about the fantastic vacation my brain just took.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to continue? Or if you'd rather just stand here in the middle of the woods, that's cool too." She quipped with a one-shoulder shrug.

"No, let's go." I started walking again, but slowed down for Naomi to catch up when I remembered I didn't know the way, "It's kind of creepy here." I said as she came up next to me, walking much slower than before.

"Creepy?"

"Yeah. It's dark."

"And?" she asked, taking my wrist again, gently, and leading me off the small, beaten trail we had been following and onto a path of her own, "Are you afraid of the dark?" she teased.

"No, just afraid of what's in it, I guess." I answered as she helped me over an abnormally thick fallen tree, using her grip on my wrist to steady me as I stepped over it. I didn't really need the help, but my wrist felt cold when she let go.

"Afraid of the unknown then?"

"Well, yeah. Isn't everyone? Aren't you?"

"Maybe. Just not this kind of unknown." she said, lifting up a small, twiggy branch for me to pass safely underneath it. It came up to her ribs, but I could have easily ducked under it. I wondered if she realized that or not.

"There are different kinds?"

"Sure. Darkness is a physical unknown. You're scared something is lurking in it, waiting to jump out and attack, right?" she looked over at me and I nodded hesitantly, not sure if that was the answer she wanted or if she even wanted an answer at all. "I'm not afraid of things like that." she continued "Tangible things. They don't scare me." I waited for her to elaborate because I wanted to know what did scare her (I wanted to know a lot of things – everything – about Naomi), but she didn't so I pressed her on.

"So what does scare you?"

"Other stuff." she said brusquely, plucking a leaf from a low branch and ripping it apart in chucks by its veins. I didn't press again.

We walked on through the trees that were starting to thin out and we fell into the kind of silence that isn't really silent, that's full of the thoughts that you can't figure out how to voice. It wasn't uncomfortable though and I found myself wondering if I was even possible to be uncomfortable around Naomi when she found a way to put one of her thoughts into words.

"Do you do that often? That thing you did before?"

"What thing?"

"The one where you looked like you were watching a movie no one else could see."

_Well, shit._ So she had noticed. I crossed my fingers and toes that it really was a private screening, otherwise I'd have had to go crawl into the nearest ditch and curl up into a little mortified ball.

"Actually, yeah. I daydream a lot. I kind of have to."

Confused, Naomi creased her eyebrows together, "What do you mean?"

I groaned inwardly. _Here you go again, Emily. Too much too soon. Jesus._

I wasn't used to privacy and I sometimes forgot to remind myself that not everyone wanted the open book of someone's life chucked at them, especially after knowing them for barely an hour. Naomi wasn't everyone though and she seemed sincerely interested, so I allowed myself to continue, but only after reminding myself again to doggy-paddle before diving in.

"It's just nice to get away sometimes. To know that this isn't all there is, even if it's only in my head for right now."

"What's so bad about here?" she asked as the trees surrounding us faded out into bushes and undergrowth, the first signs of the meadow coming into view.

"There's nothing _bad_ about here, but there's nothing good, either. There's just…nothing about here. Nothing except my family, and they're usually the ones I'm trying to get away from."

"Trying to escape the clutches of darling Ma and Da?"

I laughed, "Something like that, yeah. My dad's not bad; he's great really, but mother dearest not so much. My twin's got quite a fierce grip when she wants one, too."

"Twin?"

"Yeah. Katie." I answered, soldiering through the undergrowth with Naomi a step in front of me, taking the brunt of the prickling branches and thorns.

"Identical?" she questioned, pushing back the last bit of shrubbery separating us from the clearing.

"In looks, supposedly. In personality, we couldn't be more opposite."

"That's unfortunate." I hadn't even taken a full step onto the short grass of the field and towards the well-loved yellowish-white and red RV I assumed was Naomi's when she spurted, "For her, I mean."

"What?"

"She'd be lucky to be like you, is what I'm saying." We reached the door to the camper and stood in front of it, facing each other. "I can't imagine anyone worse than the opposite of you." She shrugged, like it was nothing for her to deliver me what was potentially the greatest compliment of my life.

I opened and closed my mouth a number of times, unable to find the right words, or any words at all, to let her know how immensely grateful I was.

"Thank you." I finally said, half-whispering and looking right into her eyes, willing her to see how much I meant those two words.

"'S no problem." She tucked some hair behind her ear and smiled shyly, a little piece of her lip trapped underneath a tooth. I knew I was staring right at it, but I couldn't help myself. Couldn't stop myself from thinking just how badly I wanted that lip trapped between my own teeth instead.

Her eyes fell to my lips and my stomach flipped and then flipped again when she suddenly released the hold on her lip, making it flick out ridiculously appealingly, and let out a shaky breath.

She brought her eyes back up to mine and all I saw was fear. All I heard was an echo of her voice:

_Tangible things. They don't scare me. _

I was tangible, right? Why did I scare her? It made no sense, but not much did at the moment except for lips and tongues and what might happen if they met.

"Anyways," she started and then swallowed roughly, "This is me." she patted the door twice before reaching for its handle, "Let's go in and see what the leeches haven't sucked dry yet."

_No!_ I wanted to yell, _Stay out here! Stay out here and kiss me! _Instead, I waggled my head around like a brainless dashboard ornament and followed her inside, closing the door carefully behind me.

* * *

><p>When I turned around, I was very pleasantly surprised by the interior of Naomi's camper. From the state of the outside, I expected to step through a portal into the 1970s. All horrendously clashing colors and bold prints; swirling paisley patterns in pea green and shit brown. But what I found instead was a refurbished little hideaway with modern, minimalistic furniture and as much open space as could be spared. It looked almost like someone had slapped six wheels onto their college dorm room and hit the road. I immediately decided that I loved it.<p>

I was very pleasantly surprised again by the sight of Naomi standing right in front of me, goofily waving two different bottles.

"So what'll it be, Ems?" I smiled at the nickname as she looked at one bottle, rotating it to peek at the label, "Pinot Grigio?" she did the same thing to the other bottle, "Or Cider Oblivion?" she looked back at me with a smile that would have been ordinary on any other person, just a smile for a smile's sake, but on Naomi, it made my insides confused.

"Either." I said, stepping forward.

Naomi's smile went slack and her eyes widened as she stepped back towards the opposite side of the camper.

"Don't care." Another step forward. Another step back. The RV was narrow; she didn't have much room left now.

I moved closer again and brushed against her as I went to sit on the small suede couch built into the right wall of the camper. Our breath hitched in unison the moment we touched, but neither of us acknowledged it and I plopped onto the cushions

"Surprise me." I smiled at her and patted the spot next to me. Even I could tell that my voice had dropped several octaves and I watched Naomi compose herself before joining me, sitting right where my hand had been and very determinedly bringing both bottles with her, pressing them hard into her lap. Little white rings starting forming where the bottles met her thighs and I would have gladly sat there, just watching the smooth, summer-tanned skin change color, but Naomi only sat still for one quick second before repositioning herself to face me with a very unexpected smirk.

"Alright then. Close your eyes."

I did so without questioning it and it dawned on me that I probably should have when I felt the round edge of a glass bottle and then cold liquid against my lips. I parted them and swallowed the tiny wave that flowed through and instantly wanted to spit it back out. My eyes flew open in protest, but my complaint tripped over the tip of tongue and landed with a thud in the back of my throat when I noticed how close Naomi was to me. I would have been able to see every single flaw on her face if there were any to notice. Her eyes, those blue, blue little stolen pieces of sky were only inches away from mine and it made goose bumps explode all over my skin when I felt her warm breath heat my face as she went to speak.

"See?" she breathed, "Surprise."

I blinked stupidly, several times in quick succession, before I remembered that speaking was a normal part of human interaction and I responded, miraculously keeping my voice steady, "That was disgusting."

Naomi barked out a laugh and flopped back against the couch, "That'll be a no on the Cider Oblivion, then."

"Definitely a no on the Cider Oblivion." I agreed heartedly.

"Here, maybe the wine won't be so bad." She said, passing me the uncorked bottle.

"Well," I grabbed it from her hand, making sure not to touch her because I was pretty sure it would result in a hand spasm and a subsequently dropped and broken bottle of cheap wine, "it certainly can't get any worse." I said and then literally drank my words as I swallowed the most revolting substance known to mankind. I gagged and coughed and sputtered and heard Naomi burst out laughing as I quickly turned the bottle around in my hands, gingerly held it away from my face and looked at it in horror, "What _IS_ this?"

Naomi's laughter had slid her partway off the couch, her legs stretched out to their full, marvelous extent and her ass nearly hanging off the edge as she wrapped her arms around her stomach tightly, trying to control herself and not all succeeding, "I don't – I don't know! Cook. Wine. S – sorry!" she gasped between huge belly laughs, "H – help me!" she pleaded, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks, "Stomach. Hurts. Can't st – stop!"

I was having a lot of trouble containing my own laughter. Hers infected me like a jolly little virus and spread like wildfire "Why should I help you?" I snickered, "It's your fault! You tried to feed me poison!" With that, I lost the battle and cracked up, falling forward onto her stomach, both of us grasping uselessly at each other through laughter that aimed to split us at the seams. She had let go of her stomach and wrapped her arms around me instead as she rocked back and forth and I could barely register the warm, tingly feeling that it caused because I was far too preoccupied with trying to breathe.

Our lungs eventually managed to protest loudly enough against the lack of oxygen and we starting gulping back air to calm ourselves. Once we were finally able to take steady breaths, she let go of me and let her arms fall heavily onto the couch, sighing with relief. I did the same as I flipped myself over and rested the back of my head against her still quivering stomach.

"I can't even – what just happened? It wasn't even that funny!"

"I don't even know." I shook my head, at a loss, and it made her shirt bunch up at the end. I tried not to think about that, and probably would have succeeded had she not squirmed beneath me and made it ride up more, a now very evident bare strip of skin next to my head, right above the top of a pair of very short shorts. "But I am in legitimate pain right now." I whined, massaging my aching tummy muscles. "I request a moment of silence."

"Granted." She approved immediately, "Definitely granted."

After a respectable amount of time, and not because feeling her breathing underneath me was driving me over and off the wall or anything, I broke the silence.

"That'll be a no on alcohol in general, I think."

I felt more than heard her start giggling and I shot up off her stomach and twisted around to reach down and grab her shoulders, pinning them into the cushions "No!" I looked down at her sternly, "Don't you dare!" Naomi pressed her lips together tightly and her eyes were shining with the laughter she was trying to hold back. "My stomach cannot take any more of that." Naomi snorted and my hand, without having the decency to wait for permission from my brain, flew off her shoulder and covered her mouth.

She froze and was suddenly very serious. I was suddenly very aware of her lips under my hand. I snatched it back in alarm and shoved it between the cushions, just in case it wasn't done misbehaving.

"Not again." I said, not sure if I meant the laughter or something else entirely. She really shouldn't have been looking at me like that, anxious and expectant like she knew exactly what I was thinking because her mind was jammed on the very same frequency. Not when she was this close, not when every synapse in my brain was firing the message to just lean in and kiss her already.

Apparently, I had lost all control of my hands because the one still wrapped around her shoulder started sliding its way up the side of her neck, stopping only when my thumb was over top her hammering pulse point. I felt my other hand escape from its temporary cushiony prison and start moving towards Naomi and I wondered absently what it had planned because I certainly wasn't telling it what to do. I never got the chance to find out, though, because before it could reach its destination, Naomi spoke, breaking the spell and making it crash-land back onto my thigh.

"No more laughing." She creaked, looking at me with too much emotion for my semi-fried brain to process "Got it."

"Right. Laughing. Bad." Apparently, I had lost control of my eyes too because I could not drag them away from her lips.

"Very."

I coughed and forced myself to look away and sit back against the relative safety of the couch. "So…what then?"

Naomi pulled herself up into a sitting position next to me, "Well, we've already established that the quest for alcohol was a tota failure." I laughed and she glared at me, "Hypocrite. Let's just go back to the bonfire? The sun will be coming up soon."

"Okay!" I agreed cheerfully, the earlier tension almost entirely dissipated as I bounded of the couch with a big smile, the thought of watching the sunrise with Naomi having me all kinds of giddy.

"Are you always this excitable?" she smirked, making a point to ease herself calmly to her feet, obviously very entertained by my enthusiasm.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I retorted quickly and Naomi clearly didn't expect it because she stumbled a step as she followed me out the door.

* * *

><p>We walked back into the woods side by side, charging the air with unbelievable electricity whenever our arms brushed, but neither of us doing anything about it. I wanted to, god knows I wanted to just reach out and grab her hand, but I was worried.<p>

I was afraid, not of what I was feeling, but that _she_ was afraid. I couldn't get passed the fear I saw in her eyes every time we shared a tense moment, every time I had the opportunity to act on the screaming desire to have her lips on mine. It wasn't a new feeling for me, pining after a girl. I had never talked about it, only left some probably not-so-subtle hints for Katie, but I was well aware of my sexuality. I only kept it a secret because I knew that the only way my family would embrace the idea would be have a better position to stab it in the back.

My mother, being the devout follower of the Book of Social Norms that she was, would probably yank the knife out and turn it on me next, so I stayed quiet and ignored any stirrings of attraction I felt, but I didn't think I could do that this time. It had never been anywhere near this strong before. In the past, it was never anything more than quickened heart beats when I saw a particularly attractive woman on the movie screen or walking down a crowded street. It was never anything that scared or worried me, why lingering eye contact with girls always meant so much more than with guys, because I never had to act on it. I could always wipe the sweat from my palms on my jeans and walk away, but I couldn't do that with Naomi. With her, all I could do was burn, but for some reason, I wasn't afraid of that either. I welcomed it, basked in the fire coming off the beautiful girl with snow blonde hair and ice blue eyes. I knew she felt it too, but I could see in her eyes that she was trying to douse the flames and I wouldn't let myself stoke them until she stopped, or until I found out why. So I clenched my fingers into a fist and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, crunching over the coating of twigs and leaves on the trail back to the bonfire.

"You know what you said before? About your mom? Won't she be wondering where you are?" Naomi asked as she picked up a branch that caught her attention and started lackadaisically using it as a walking stick.

"Trying to get rid of me already are you?" I tried to pass it off as a joke, but I couldn't keep the undercurrent of worry from flowing into my words.

"No! No, not at all." She said quickly, "Trying to find out how long I can keep you."

I laughed, relieved and elated "You make me sound like a pet."

"Well, you are about as big as one." She grinned

I wanted to take offense, but it was all I could do to keep a grin of my own off my face "Pardon me for not being a long-legged giantess."

"Long-legged eh?" she came to a halt in the middle of the tree-framed trail and smugly propped herself up against her makeshift walking stick, quirking an eyebrow and smirking as all the blood in my body made a mad dash for my face.

"Shut up, Naomi." I mumbled "Just an observation."

"You _observed_ my legs, did you?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did." I said bluntly. She didn't need to know just how thoroughly I had studied them, diligently noting the four freckles on her right calf, arranged closely together like a constellation on her skin, and the one behind her left knee, the faded scar that ran from the top to the middle of her left shin, the ribbon of music notes inked around her right ankle, the definition of her muscles, subtle, but noticeable even when she wasn't moving and completely, mouth-wateringly distracting when she was. Her legs were a particularly good subject of mine. "Now, would you kindly shut the hell up and make some use of those long legs? They aren't there for decoration and I'd like to actually see the sun rise."

"Don't get mad at me, Ems. Not my fault you didn't eat your veggies as a kid." Naomi hoisted herself off the stick and starting sauntering off down the path.

I followed her, laughing louder than that remark probably called for, but the idea of going through a day in the Fitch household without consuming some form of vegetable was about as believable as a talking unicorn in designer eveningwear, "Naoms, I hardly ate anything _but _vegetables. My parents are total health nuts. You should see some of the things my mother tries to pass off as food."

"See? Don't you mean taste?"

"Stop being difficult." I took a swipe at her arm and she jerked away laughing, "And believe me, seeing is bad enough. Her specialty is artichoke and beet root soup. It looks like cat sick."

"Oh god!" she giggled and her eyes crinkled as she blocked the sound with her hand, "That sounds awful!"

"That's because it is." I said matter-of-factly, "And it obviously didn't help much in the growth department."

"Must have done something right. You're in good shape."

"In good shape, eh?" I gave an eyebrow quirk of my own and she mimicked my impressive ability to blush.

"Oh fuck you." she stuck out her tongue "Just an observation." she mocked me childishly

"Fuck you right back." I grinned

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

I tripped over my feet and Naomi's hands shot out to grab me and prevent my face from acquainting itself with the ground. She had one hand around my bicep and the other on my hip and I really wished she would have just let me fucking fall because she just seriously intensified the steady stream of images reminding me that yes, I would like that. I would like that very, very much.

When did this become okay? I did not agree to cross this bridge into new territory where comments like _that_ were acceptable. And okay, fine, I probably would have eagerly sprinted across it if I had seen it coming, but she sprang it on me out of the blue and I suddenly found I didn't like heights very much. This was not fair. She was playing dirty.

"What kind of girl do you think I am, Naomi?" I said in mock offense, shaking off her hands and trying mightily to beat back the onslaught of vivid scenarios that seemed bent on taking up permanent residence in my brain. My trusty imagination wasn't so trusty anymore. If it were in any way possible, I would have had it burned at the stake for treason. "I don't even know your last name."

"Campbell."

"Wha – oh, your last name?"

"Yep."

"Oh!" I exclaimed as that new tidbit of information cleared up the reason behind one of Effy's comments at the bonfire.

"Oh what?"

"Oh nothing. Just something Effy said earlier. It's not important."

"Effy never says anything not important." Naomi shot me a look that clearly said that she wasn't the least bit joking and then smiled again, "So come on, Ems." she poked me teasingly with her branch, "Out with it."

_Well, if you insist…_"Apparently I had my Campbell rung." More like beaten to an unrecognizable, misshapen hunk of scrap metal, but I felt like that might have been overkill.

Naomi made a noise that sounded halfway between a snort and a scoff, "Fucking Effy. Do me a favor and ignore every word that comes out of her mouth from now on."

_Oh, hello butterflies. Welcome back to my stomach. So lovely to see you again. Please do make yourselves at home. _"From now on?" I echoed, biting my lip to stop the smile from breaking out. Naomi relapsed into a flustered, red-faced, tongue-tied shell of her former confident self. Surprisingly, it didn't do a thing to stop me from wanting to jump her bones.

"Er yeah, I mean…maybe? If you – do you – you could –"

"Stop talking." I said and Naomi's mouth made an audible clack as she complied, though her eyes still resembled a wild animal that backed itself into a cage and couldn't find the way out.

I took pity on her and tossed her the key, "I would love to spend more time with you. And your friends." I added, almost forgetting that last part. It was true, just maybe not _as_ true.

"Oh, thank fuck." Naomi sighed and looked heavenward before rocketing her eyes back down again, panicking even more than before, "I mean…ilikeyou." And that made it worse still, her eyes nearly popping out of her skull. "No! I mean, yes, I mean, shit, you're cool." She finished her rambling with a groan as she plonked herself onto the hard earth in front of a tree, resting her back against it, bringing her knees to her chest, elbows to her thighs and putting her bright red face into her hands.

I lowered myself next to her, folding my bent knees out to the side, the entire right edge of my body hovering millimeters from her left, "Cool?" I teased, smirking and putting on my best surfer boy impersonation, "Thanks dude. _Toooatally_ radical compliment, man."

"Don't make fun of me, Emily. I feel weird." She scolded, but it came out muffled against her hands and lost most of its conviction.

"Just out of curiosity," I said with an exaggerated note of inquisitiveness in my voice, "how many stomach ulcers have you had?"

"None!" she asserted through the gaps in her fingers, "I'm not normally like this. Ever. I am never like this."

I gave her a few moments to brood away her embarrassment, but after several minutes of silence and Naomi showing no signs of lifting her head from her hands or getting off the ground, I began to suspect she would need a little help. I didn't want her to be embarrassed. I wondered if maybe she thought the attraction was one-sided, maybe she didn't know how I felt and that was the reason behind the distressed state she had worked herself into. Maybe it was time to tell her.

"Naomi?" I tried

"Hm?" she responded weakly, her face still buried in her hands. That wouldn't do. A face that magnificent should never be hidden from view.

I sighed resolutely as I thought of the best way to proceed, determined to tell her, but nervous and unsure of how to express the million words thickening my tongue, "I did, you know." That did the trick and Naomi spaced out two fingers on one of her hands, peeking at me cautiously through the V-shaped window she created. I continued, encouraged by the baby blue questions staring back at me, "Have my Campbell rung."

Her hands finally moved from her face and she wedged them into the space where the back of her thighs met the back of her bent knees as she looked at me with a timid, pleased, hopeful little smile, biting her lip all the while, "You did?"

Was that really what she was afraid of? That she was mistaking this for something else? That I saw her as nothing more than a potential new (and, let's face it, only) friend? She couldn't have been more wrong. I felt like I had accidently fallen into the bonfire from the moment she looked at me, and I hadn't cooled down since.

"Yeah." I smiled fondly at the girl who was burning me to ash, "It got banged pretty fucking hard. Bit disorienting, really." I said, nudging her shoulder with mine affectionately and smiling wider as she came farther out of her shell, letting her knees drop to the sides, one of them resting on the tops of my thighs as she sat cross-legged and glowing.

"What's your last name?" Naomi asked, her entire demeanor much sunnier than before, her smile brighter than the hottest day in August.

"…Fitch?" I answered lamely, my brain not able to work out the reason for her question with her smiling at me like that.

Naomi chuckled, "Sure about that?"

"Yes. Bitch." I tried to scowl at her. I really wished my blood wasn't so attracted to my face. "I just didn't know why you asked."

"Well, I'm sure there's a near endless amount of clever puns I could make with that," she said, almost wistfully as she thought of all the possibilities, "but I can't think of one right now to adequately describe how I felt when I saw you."

_Oh sweet Jesus._ How was I supposed to deal with that? Did it happen to her, too? That instantaneous _click_ and tingling of fingers and toes that said: _This. This, right here, is _exactly_ where you're supposed to be._

"What?" I asked, smiling curiously, hoping she would continue.

"Maybe you reeled me in like a Fitch?" she said, somewhat tentatively, in lieu of an answer, scrunching up her face as she tested it out.

I laughed myself all the way up to cloud nine. So, this is what euphoria felt like. I hardly even felt human, I was so happy. "I am quite the Fitcherman." I grinned so enormously it probably would have hurt if I was capable of feeling pain at the moment.

"So," she asked, grinning back and scooching closer to me, "I take it this means you do in fact play for my team?"

I scooted even closer, putting a hand on her knee and using the leverage to turn and smirk right at her, "That would depend on what team you play for."

"I don't really have a team." She concluded after mulling it over for a few seconds, "I'm more of a free agent. Buuut," she emphasized the 't', pushing herself off of the tree and leaning towards me, "I might be willing to sign a contract for your team, if one were to be offered."

I just looked at her, taking in everything. How close she was. How her entire body was angled towards mine. How her whole face was stretched with a smile that showed off perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. How brightly her eyes were shining, not even a trace of fear clouding them. She wasn't scared. My heart pounded with more vigor than a collegiate drum line as I realized what I was going to do.

I shifted my thighs from underneath her knee and swung one of them over her, straddling her hips. I lowered myself into the gap made by her crossed legs, reached passed her shoulders to place my palms flat against the tree, one on either side of her head, and leaned down, level with her face.

"Oh, I'm offering." I purred, just centimeters from her lips. I was close enough to see and hear Naomi's throat move as she swallowed thickly and squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them again, I could barely recognize them. The clear blue, ocean surface of her eyes had nearly disappeared, falling deep into the pitch black water at the ocean floor. She looked like a predator.

"Where do I sign?" she breathed, curling her fingers around my waist.

Smiling, I took one hand off of the tree and brought a finger to my lips. "Right here." I tapped them twice and leaned in.

Naomi smiled and brought her hands to my face, cupping my cheeks as we kissed for the first time.

Her lips were warm and smooth and so fucking soft and I never wanted to pull away. I wanted to keep kissing her forever, keep feeling her against me. I pushed my hips harder into hers, pressed my lips harder against hers. She dropped her hands to my lower back and pulled me closer feverishly, kissing me back even harder, faster. I felt myself moan when she started rubbing her fingers roughly into the small of my back and I took her bottom lip in between mine, sucking lightly. She broke away with a gasp and my eyes were still closed when I heard her breathe out a shaky _oh_ at the same time I whispered, "Wow."

I opened my eyes and saw Naomi staring at me with equal parts hunger and awe. It was an intensely powerful combination and I couldn't control the shudder than ran through my body, positive that my face reflected the exact same expression.

"Again please." Naomi panted.

I nodded eagerly and dove right back for her lips. Naomi immediately swiped her tongue across mine and I parted them without a second, or even a first thought. I groaned loudly the second our tongues touched and I quickly took my hands off of the tree; it just wasn't enough stability any more. I had to grab onto her, everything else was fading and flimsy, she was the only sure thing in my world. The only thing that felt real.

I tangled my fingers in the incredible softness of her hair and massaged her tongue with mine, grinding into her in time with the movements of our mouths. Naomi half-leaned, half-fell back against the tree and thrust her hips up against me and I gasped sharply and pulled away when the zip of her shorts hit in _exactly_ the right spot.

Naomi was undaunted and wasted no time at all moving her lips to my neck. She sucked on my pulse point, licked down the side of my neck, bit lightly at the tendon at the base of my throat, over and over again, making these little satisfied noises that were so fucking arousing they should have been illegal. I threw my head back and pressed her harder into my neck, my breathing labored and short. I was quickly losing control, jerking my hips against her wildly, seeking any kind of friction. She had to stop. We had to stop. This was too much.

_Not enough, you mean._

Nonono, I couldn't think like that. This really had to stop. Stopping was needed. Right fucking now.

"Naomi." I tried, but it came out much more like a moan that it was supposed to, so I tried again.

"N – Nnn oh _jesus" _ I hissed as she snuck her hands underneath my tank top and raked her nails up my back, making me twitch violently, "Naomi!"

She just moaned my name against the side of my neck in response and it _really _fucking did not help. She could not have been making this harder for me. In a last-ditch effort, I physically pulled her away from my neck and stared at her intently as I tried to catch my breath.

"We have to stop."

Naomi's eyes were still glazed and taken over by her pupils and she was obviously struggling to comprehend, "You want to stop?"

"No. I really fucking don't. But we have to."

Naomi puffed out her cheeks and grabbed my hips, lifting me up to help me roll off of her, "Shit." She ran a hand through her hair as I situated myself next to her against the tree, "You're right."

"Unfortunately." I said as I started standing up, wrapping a hand around Naomi's arm and tugging her with me, "Come on," I tugged again when she didn't move from the ground, "the sun's not up yet and I believe you promised me a sunrise on the beach."

"I don't think I can move yet." She whined, making herself deadweight against my hand.

I put my other hand on my hip and just stared at her, unblinking.

"Fine." she huffed, pretended to be annoyed, but I could see her fighting a smile as she stood up, "I wanted to do something anyways."

"Do what?" I asked grabbing her hand and swinging it between us was we walked.

"You'll see." She said and then frowned, "Unless they took it."

"Took what?"

"You'll see." She repeated with a smirk.

"You're very annoying." I scowled playfully at her.

"Deal with it."

* * *

><p>"<em>Damn<em> it! They did take it!" she glared at the circle of empty camping chairs around the still glowing bonfire, "Stupid pricks."

"Are you going to tell me what it is that they took now?"

"Might as well. Doesn't matter anymore." She grumbled, "My guitar. They took my guitar back and I –", she faltered and dropped her eyes to the sand, "I wanted to play you a song."

Well, if that wouldn't have been the most wonderful thing of all the wonderful things that had ever been wonderful, I sure as hell didn't know what would. I wasn't too fussed, though. Naomi was wonderful enough, guitar or not. "It's alright." I said, bumping a finger under her chin to bring her eyes back up to mine, "We can just sit here."

Naomi held my eyes for a beat before smiling and pulling me over to the biggest chair around the fire. She adjusted it to face straight out to the ocean and then flopped herself haphazardly into it and blinked up at me, still smiling.

I just stared back at her and stood there, self-consciously shifting from foot to foot, not sure if she wanted me to do what I wanted to do.

Naomi rolled her eyes and opened up her arms, "Sit down, dork."

I ignored the insult and beamed at her. I certainly did not need to be told twice and I all but launched myself into her lap, draping my legs over an armrest and lacing my arms around her neck.

Naomi _oomphed_ at the impact, "Jesus, Emily." She laughed, circling her arms around my waist.

"Sorry." I mumbled guiltily. Being easily excitable has its drawbacks.

"Don't be.' She kissed my cheek and the smile was back on my face so fast it was like it never left, "You're cute."

I lifted my head to flash a quick grin at her before nestling into the spot between she shoulder and neck, making myself comfortable to watch the sun finish painting us into a new day.

We stayed like that, tangled up in each other, hardly making a sound, not moving at all except for me twirling and playing with the feathery hair on the nape of Naomi's neck and her rubbing her thumbs over the curve of my hipbone. For a long time, the only thing that changed was the color of the sky, like we were the subjects of a picture on some fancy office desk, the kind with a moving background, and it made it all the way to bright, cloudless blue before Naomi scoffed.

"What?" I asked, maybe a little too defensively

"Oh no, it's not you." She quickly reassured me. "It's just, well; this is kind of weird isn't it? I mean, I don't even know you."

"So?" I said, definitely too defensively

"No, I don't mean – shit, this is coming out all wrong." I had a feeling she would have smacked herself in the forehead if her hands weren't too preoccupied with holding me, "What I'm trying to say is that this is crazy because I've only known you for like four hours and I really don't have much of an idea who are you are as a person and yet, this is the most intimate I've ever been with someone."

I looked at her with a puzzled frown. _That can't be right._ "Does that mean you've never…"

"Huh?" Naomi said and then thankfully caught on before I was forced to elaborate, rolling her eyes and chuckling. "Emily," she said, "May I direct your thoughts back to around half an hour ago? I was about two seconds away from fucking you. In a forest. Against a tree. Not exactly the actions of a virgin." She said pointedly.

"Well, I don't know about that. I was about to do the same to you." I said quietly, looking down and snapping the spandex of my shorts against my thigh as I gave Naomi time to process that.

I didn't take her long, "Hang on. You don't mean you're a virgin, do you?"

I stretched the spandex farther out and let go, rubbing the spot where it twanged loudly against my leg as I answered Naomi with a small nod.

"That's not possible." She said disbelievingly.

"Except it is." I said, "Why would I lie about that?"

"You wouldn't." she conceded, "It just doesn't make any sense. I mean…look at you."

"There's nothing special about me." I said easily.

"You're joking right?" she raised an eyebrow and I shook my head. I really didn't see what was so great about a tiny, unassuming mouse of a girl who willingly locked the door of her own cage. "Emily," she hugged me tighter and laughed breathily, "Believe me. There is something very, very special about you." She kissed my temple softly, lingering a bit longer than strictly necessary, "But, if you don't mind me asking, obviously, why haven't you ever?"

"There isn't much room for that in the closet."

"You're not out?" She asked, surprised.

"No. I don't really have the option."

She paused, "You seemed pretty confident with it earlier."

I thought about that, "That was because of you." I concluded, "I'm not like that normally. I've accepted it and everything, but it's not like I spend my free time waving rainbow flags on street corners and shouting "Lez we can!" I said, trying to round out the sharp edge of my tone, "I kind of have to keep it a secret. My mom's 1950's housewife brain would explode."

"That might not be a bad thing. It could get replaced with a shiny new 21st century version." Naomi joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah. Maybe." I humored her half-heartedly and then sighed, "But speaking of my lovely mother, I should probably be getting back soon. What time is it?"

"Dunno. I don't have my phone with me. If I had to guess, I'd say it's about eight?"

"Fuck! Really?" I scrambled off Naomi's lap, catching my foot in between the armrest and seat of the chair and hopping frantically on my other foot in a desperate attempt to keep my balance.

"Um, I think so?" she said, swiftly grabbing the ankle of my trapped foot and helping me free it, "Why? Is that bad?" she quickly stood up next to me, much more gracefully than I did, and almost as panicked.

"Yes!" I yelped and then calmed myself down. Marginally. "I mean, maybe. Shit, I don't know. I have to be at work in an hour and a half, which is fine because I'm only like forty-five thirty minutes away from my house which is 10 minutes away from the gym, but she'll already be awake and she'll know right away that I didn't just go for a run." I said, all in one breath, and then took another to do it all over again, "And I can't exactly be like: "Oh mom! You'll never guess what happened!" I said, coating my voice with a thick layer of false dreaminess, "I just met the most amazing girl ever! We kissed and watched the sunrise from the beach and I had the best time of my life!" I didn't have time to be embarrassed about the overdose of honesty I just forced down her throat. Thankfully, she didn't seem too bothered because her eyes brightened radiantly before she caught herself and reverted them back to the seriousness that the situation called for, "And I'm a terrible liar, Naomi. Like really, _really_ shit at it."

"Okay." She said slowly, soothingly, "And what's the worst that could happen? She won't, like, hurt you or anything, right?" she asked, her voice hushed with concern.

I wanted to reassure her, but lying really was not my forte. I gave it a shot anyways, "No, no of course not." I said, much quicker than I should have.

Naomi's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she let it slide for the time being.

"Can I walk you back?"

My heart melted at the hopeful look on her face and I wanted more than anything to say yes, but it really was not a good idea. Leading her to my house would be like tossing a rabbit into the cage of a starving python and expecting them to play nicely.

"I don't know, Naoms." I said regretfully, "That might not be the best idea."

Her face fell, "I just…" she sighed, "I don't think I want to say goodbye just yet."

Oh, now that was just cruel. I was pretty sure I was standing in a freshly made puddle of mud where the rest of my heart had liquefied and mixed with the sand. I knew I was going to cave. Hopefully she was a fast rabbit, "How are your self-defense skills? Cause you're gonna need them if my mom sees you."

Naomi laughed, "I don't know about _defense_, but I'm pretty good on the offensive, I think. It'll be fine, though, won't it? Can't you say I'm just a new friend or something?"

"Yeah no." I chuckled, "That's not going to work. I'm pretty sure I'm glowing rainbows right now." _Plus, there kind of need to be old friends for there to be new ones._

"I don't think you're the only one, but I'm willing to take my chances."

"She probably won't even see you, anyways." I said, more to reassure myself than Naomi.

"So, it's settled then." Naomi grinned and then deepened her voice and darkened her features theatrically, "Take me to the lair of the beast."

I burst out laughing. Goofball was a good look on her. "You might want to arm yourself." I said. It would have been nice if it didn't feel so much like a warning.

"I have a stick. I'll just close my eyes and pretend she's a piñata."

* * *

><p>"You know, I still don't know anything about you." Naomi realized out loud as we waited for a safe time to cross a busy street.<p>

"What do you want to know?"

"Honestly?" she peered over at me and I nodded, "Everything. Everything you want to tell me."

There was a break in traffic and I had to focus hard to stop myself from skipping as we walked to the other side of the road, "That's a pretty broad topic, Naoms." _You have no idea how broad; I want to tell you absolutely every little thing about me._

"Start with the basics, then."

"Okay, well, I'm nineteen –"

"Me too!" Naomi interrupted brightly and I smiled at her before continuing

"– I have a twin sister named Katie, which you already know, whose life ambition is to find the tightest piece of clothing ever made and use it to shamelessly lure in every member of the male species and a pervy little shit of a younger brother named James whose life ambition might be to run a museum dedicated to the preservation of pornos and women's undergarments or to be a drag queen. Not really sure yet – I'll have to get back to you on that one." Naomi laughed and looped her arm through mine, twisted her forearm and laced our fingers together, "My dad's name is Rob and he owns a chain of gyms – I work at the one here in Plymouth. He's all muscle on the outside but he's like a gooey little marshmallow on the inside. He's awesome, but he lets my mom step all over him." I took a deep breath to control my voice, "Her name is Jenna. I don't like her very much." I coughed lightly to clear the tightness in my throat, "She doesn't like me very much either."

"Emily," she said gently and gave my arm a comforting squeeze, "you don't have to talk about her if you don't want to."

"Thanks." I smiled as best I could. It felt extraordinarily unnatural paired with the thoughts of my mother circulating through my brain, "Maybe some other time."

Naomi returned a smile about a thousand times better than my own, "I'd like that."

"Your turn." I said and pretended to pass over a microphone with the arm not entwined with hers.

"Alrighty then," she played along and closed her fingers of her free hand around the air, bringing her fist to her mouth and clearing her throat, "My name is Naomi Campbell," she said dramatically and then dropped the act, letting her hand fall back to her side. "That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about my mother. My friends are almost as ridiculous as she is." A small smile graced her face as she thought of them. It stayed put, growing wider at certain points, as she told me all about JJ's struggle with Autism and his bottomless collection of corny martial arts movies and magic tricks, Pandora's knack for making even the most innocuous comment sound like it came straight out of Cook's mouth after about 12 too many shots, Thomas's unfailing sincerity and politeness, Freddie's obsessive love for Effy and all things green and smoke-able. I committed it all to memory and talked about leopard print earrings, shoes, skirts and Katie's jungle-cat fierceness, about missing underwear and disturbingly hushed giggles coming from James and his friend Gordon, about new, innovative gym equipment inventions and my dad's bone-crushing, cologne and sweat scented hugs.

Naomi listened with rapt attention and laughed in all the right places before taking the figurative microphone once more and telling me stories of little Naomi and all of her antics; losing her balance and tumbling off the brick wall bordering the backyard of her childhood home, moving from state to state, city to city and getting suspended for climbing onto the roof of her fourth elementary school, playing every sport imaginable for at least one season and throwing up from severe dehydration on more than one occasion. She painted pictures of a white-blond, sun-kissed whirlwind of a girl as she tried to sneak up on seals sunbathing in California, chased geckos through the dry Arizona heat, squealing when they broke away and left her holding a detached, still wriggling hunk of tail, making cardstock signs with childish scribbles protesting the removal of a tree she had made her fort in Michigan. I listened, amazed that she had seen and done all of these things when she was so young, before she had even blown out fourteen candles, and here I was, nineteen and never having gone more than fourteen miles from the hospital I was born in. Maybe I should have been jealous, but I was just completely enamored with her and every melodic word that fell from her lips. It was actually problematic how deeply I focused on her; several times, I forgot to look before crossing the street and floated dreamily off the curb, only to have Naomi yank me back from certain death by morning commuter.

"Emily!" Naomi chastised, once again pulling me out of the fantasy world she was narrating as another car honked its warning at me, "Back to earth, please. I doubt your mom would be too pleased with a hospital bill. Or a death certificate."

The pleasant clear sky of my mind, colored a very specific shade of blue, instantly thundered with Jenna Fitch shaped storm clouds as I remember where our destination was. I had lost myself in Naomi, forgetting that this wasn't just a leisurely stroll between two people getting to know each other. That it was more akin to a march into a war that would only ever have one outcome, no matter how many times it was fought.

I looked around and realized with a sinking feeling that even with my brain out of touch with reality, I managed to lead us to the corner of my street, a mere 60 seconds away from the deep red door behind which undoubtedly lurked the ticking time-bomb that was my mother.

"She'd probably only be upset that it wasn't her that caused it." I muttered under my breath, not intending Naomi to hear, but I knew she did anyways when her grip on my arm stiffened so I hurriedly spoke up before she could comment on it, "We're almost there. It's just down this street. Third house on the left."

"Oh." Naomi said, "I guess I should…" she squeezed my hand to illustrate the words she didn't say before letting go.

"Yeah. That's probably smart." It didn't feel smart. My hand felt oddly empty and incomplete without hers in it. I wanted to grab it again, take whatever miniscule amount of courage I could from the warmth of her skin, from the softness of her hands before accepting whatever fate my mother had in store for me.

I didn't really know what she would do. It was worse not knowing. I wasn't sure what to prepare for. If she woke up in a good mood, I might face only minimal questioning and mild general disapproval of my existence. A bad mood and I'd have to deal with the reincarnation of the head torturer in the Spanish Inquisition. I dreaded leaving Naomi and walking through that door, so I stalled on the street corner for as long as I dared. Lucky for me, Naomi was of the same mindset and we stood by the stop sign, silently listening to the birds go on chirping their hellos to the morning sun, oblivious to the night falling down on the ground. I took a step closer to her and started fiddling with the edge of her tank top. I let my hands trail upwards and sketch over the printed design, a faded pink triangle partially enclosing a graphic of a tiger's head and the word 'Unruly', written in bold. I felt her muscles tense as I skimmed over them, and then dropped my hands back down to hook my fingers through the belt loops of her shorts.

"I don't want to go." I whispered, wriggling my hooked fingers like little worms.

"Me either." Naomi said, curling a finger through each of the hooks. "Emily…" she twitched her fingers to tug on mine gently. I dragged my eyes to meet her concerned blue ones, "Are you going to be okay? You seem…scared. Really scared."

"I am. A bit." I thought about being swung by my ponytail into hard wooden stairs. About being slammed headfirst into a wall, my forehead shattering the glass of a framed photo. About being shoved pitilessly down into the solid kitchen floor tiles, curling into a ball, enduring kick after kick like a disobedient stray dog. "I'm sure I'm just overreacting." I forced a smile, "I'll be fine."

"Alright." She said, slipping my fingers out of her belt loops, wrapping her hands around mine and guiding them to her shoulders. Naomi slid her hands down the slope of my arms, settled them on my hips and jerked me forward sharply. I stumbled into her and giggled, an honest, unforced sound of happiness, as I entwined my fingers behind her neck and inclined my chin to smile up at her. Naomi tilted hers down and grinned back at me, "I'm going to kiss you now, if that's okay."

"I suppose I wouldn't mind." I said, already on my tip toes and closing the distance between us.

Naomi lowered her head the rest of the way and the moment I felt her lips against mine again, I forgot. I forgot all about my mom and my complete inability to lie to her. I forgot that I was losing myself into the lips of girl out in my street, in plain view of anyone that might walk by, that if any neighbors were to see me, they would go squawking to my mother like diabolically trained parrots.

Nothing mattered except for how amazing it felt to kiss Naomi, to have her lips moving softly against mine. To feel her holding me closely as we kissed slowly, pretending to have all the time in the world.

If this had been the dream it felt like, I would have gladly stayed there forever with her. But it wasn't possible and the metaphorical alarm clock was blaring, loud and demanding. I had to wake up. I had already hit snooze too many times.

I broke away from Naomi and took a step back to resist the temptation of pretending for just a bit longer. It was one of those moments where you have a distinct shift in reality, where you recognize the end of a moment in time and travel onto the next, whether you're ready to or not.

"Bye." I whispered.

"No." Naomi shook her head, "See you later." She said, her voice laced with conviction, but her eyes were begging me to answer an unspoken question.

"Yeah." I said, wondering why that one word was so hard to say and even harder to believe, "See you."

I wrapped my arms around her in a customary good-bye hug, but Naomi just squeezed me back tighter when I went to pull away.

"I feel like I should say good luck." She murmured over the top of my head

I laughed despite myself, "Might help." I said into her shoulder, breathing her in. She smelled like everything, like the world she had been allowed to see, and something else I was sure only the most beautiful woman in the world was allowed to smell like. I knew I would remember it forever.

"In that case, good luck." She pressed a light kiss into my hair, "Now shoo." She said and gave me a gentle shove and smile.

I started walking away backwards, needing to keep her in sight as long as possible, "I had a really nice time."

"Me too, Em." She said

"I'm really glad I met you, Naoms." I said, a bit louder as I walked, still backwards, farther away, closer to my house, to my mother.

"I'm really glad I met you too, Emily." She said, louder still as I watched my neighbor's mailbox pass by through my peripheral vision and stepped onto the cobblestone of my driveway.

"See you later." I shouted, backing up the steps of my front porch.

"Soon." She corrected, cupping her hands around her mouth to make sure I heard, "See you soon."

"Soon." I agreed, nodding and fumbling around behind me to find the doorknob.

Naomi smiled and waved. I smiled and gave her a dorky finger wave back before turning around and opening the door.

I hesitated before crossing through the wooden archway. Closed my eyes and inhaled. Concentrated on the inflating of my chest. I opened my eyes as I slowly let the air out and stepped into the house, shutting the heavy door behind me.

"Hey everyone, I'm home!"

* * *

><p><strong>Cliffhanger? Not really. But maybe.<strong>

**I'm going to apologize in advance because the next update will probably take even longer. My mom is having surgery tonight and I'll have to be taking care of her, while going to school full time, on top of working 40 hours a week. Free time will be a figment of my imagination for a week or so, I'm guessing. Her surgery is a minor one, but I still gotta be there for her, yanno.**

**Every time you review God brings a kitten to life. And we can never have enough kittens.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: This story might end up being longer than I originally planned because I'm only on the 4****th**** chapter (feel free to say duh) and I haven't even gotten past the first day yet so….**

**Thank you muchly to everyone who reviewed. I don't know how to reply to them individually cause I'm a noob, but they're all lovely.**

* * *

><p>I stood by the stop sign, watching as Emily disappeared behind her door. I stayed right there, dumbfounded and waiting for my heartbeat to return to its regular, pre-Emily Fitch rate for at least a full minute before turning around on my heel, in a daze, and finally walking away.<p>

_Where the hell did she come from?_

Parts of me were convinced that I was dreaming, and I might have believed them were it not for the fact that not even in my most far-fetched and fantastical dreams would I have imagined myself capable of feeling like this, feeling this much.

It was a peculiar feeling; wanting to snag some random passerby off the street and gush and gush and gush about the incredible girl I just met at the same time that I wanted to call child services or stock up on donuts and coffee to stake out the Fitch residence for any sign of anyone hurting Emily. I had no idea what to do with it. Some feelings should really come with an instruction manual, but sadly, I was on my own and all I could do was walk.

I felt like I should have been walking on air, but the concern that I felt was heavy enough to make me drag my feet and scuff my shoes against the sidewalk as I headed back to the campsite. It didn't matter that I had really only just met her, the look on Emily's face as she waved at me from the doorstep was unsettling my stomach more and more the farther I got from her house. I couldn't shake the worry that shackled itself to every step that threatened to turn into a skip, every breath that threatened to turn into a schoolgirl-ish giggle. And it got even heavier, heavy enough to make me stop dead in my tracks, when I heard a distant noise that sounded an awful lot like a scream come from behind me.

The possibility that it might not have been Emily didn't even enter my mind. All I knew was that the scream definitely came from the direction of her house and that was good enough for me. Without thinking, I whipped around and took off down the street, the same feeling that had held me down now nipping at my heels, driving me faster as I leapt off and over curbs and cut through yards. I heard shouting the closer I got to Emily's house and I barreled like rodeo bronco with a spur in its side around that stop sign at the end of her street and only stopped when I came to the sidewalk in front of her house. My breath, already fast and strenuous from the short sprint (I really needed to stop smoking), stopped coming at all when I realized that the shouting was in fact coming from inside Emily's house and there wasn't a god damn thing I could think to do about it.

"Mom! Stop, please!" I heard Emily beg as I stood listening, unable do anything else, on the sidewalk, "I went running, that's it, I swear!"

"Lie to me again, you ungrateful little bitch. I DARE you!" For a split second, my pounding heart froze in my chest and I suddenly understood Emily's fear. The fury in her mom's voice was the stuff nightmares were made of.

"I'm not! I'm not ly – OW" The sound of Emily crying out in pain snapped me out of my state of shock. I couldn't believe that anyone, much less her own flesh and blood, her own _mother_, would be capable of treating Emily like that. She deserved better. I needn't have known Emily long to know that. A few hours in her company was more than enough to assure me that that girl deserved to smile every moment of every day, to wake up to the sunlight streaming through her blinds, even on the foggiest day. She deserved so much better, but what she got instead was a mother who treated her like spit-on dirt. I couldn't stand the thought. There had to be something I could do.

"Do you think I'm stupid, Emily?" There was a pause and strained my ears, thinking that maybe they had lowered their voices to continue more privately. I crept closer to see if that was the case and, just as I tiptoed through the dewy grass up to the doubled-paned window, the air was injected with the venom of Jenna's voice again and realized I had been wrong because she resumed her yelling even louder than before.

I ducked out of pure instinct and stayed crouched under the windowsill, in the midst of a small flowerbed, helplessly listening to a mother do things a mother never should do. "I asked you a question, Emily! I expect an answer when I'm speaking to you, do you understand me?"

"Yes." This time, I was glad I had sneaked closer; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to hear Emily's almost whispered response.

"Well, then? Answer me!"

"No, I don't think you're stupid." Emily replied, sounding so small and defeated, like she had already handed over her weapons and waved the white flag before the battle cry had even rung out.

"Then WHY do you continue to lie to me?" Jenna screamed and I felt like cowering from just the sound of her voice. I couldn't even imagine actually facing her, "You reek of smoke, Emily! You have grass stains on your shorts and leaves in your hair! I am not an idiot and I expect the truth!" A few moments of incredibly tense silence passed. I could have heard a butterfly come to rest on one of the petals at my feet. I had never been more anxious in my entire life and I wasn't even the one in danger. I was safe outside, obscured from anyone's view except for a potential nosy neighbor or two, but I was furiously wracking my brain for any conceivable way to get _inside_, to get Emily outside, to get Emily safe, and I was coming up with absolutely nothing.

"The truth, Emily! NOW!"

Silence. And more silence. And then a slap that was audible even through the thick, storm-sheltered walls and a yelp of pain that made my skin crawl while simultaneously bolstering my resolve enough for me to inch my head over the edge of the windowsill and peer inside.

My eyes were met with a living room that could have come straight from a magazine catering specifically to Stepford Wives; perfectly arranged furniture, perfectly painted walls, perfectly color-coordinated accents and decorations. Picture perfect in every way except for what was happening in it.

Jenna had Emily by the shoulders and was shaking her, hard, frustrated, furious jerks that reverberated through Emily's entire body.

Emily wasn't doing anything to fight it. She just let herself be manhandled like a human ragdoll, emotionless and inanimate (I couldn't decide if it was more foolish than admirable or if it was the other way around), until Jenna released her shoulders so suddenly that Emily crashed backwards into the wall and grimaced as she collided into the solid surface. Then, Jenna pincered Emily's chin with claw-like fingers and, just before she thrusted Emily's head up to face the ceiling, I saw a look of panic flash across the redhead's face and she started to struggle, but Jenna held firm.

"Your neck." Jenna's voice was calm, calculated and not fooling anyone before she erupted, "Emily Anne Fitch, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR NECK!"

_Fuckfuckfuckohfuck._ My veins turned into glacial streams my blood ran so cold. I knew exactly what happened to her neck; _I _happened to her neck. I would have bet the world that Emily was now in _serious_ trouble and it was all my fucking fault because I got too fucking carried away, because I listened to my hormones instead of my brain and marked Emily's neck with my all too eager lips like my life depended on it. And now she was going to pay for it, unless I could do something to stop it.

I tore my eyes from the train wreck happening in the living room and searched the area around me for anything that would give me a sign for what to do. I fruitlessly scoured the front yard, uselessly surveyed the driveway, sidewalk and street, and was about to throw caution to the wind and just barge through the front door when my desperate eyes finally landed on something that planted the seeds of an idea in my head.

Over on the porch of Emily's next-door neighbor's house, there was a package. A plain brown, cardboard box, ordinary in every way, but at that moment I could have sworn there was a honest-to-god spotlight shining down on it, accompanied by a chorus of angels heralding its arrival.

I ran across Emily's yard, up the neighbor's porch steps, swiped the package, raced back to Emily's and was banging on her front door before I allowed myself time to think about how immensely reckless and stupid I was being. This was a bad idea and I knew it, but it was the only one I had so I ran with it.

No one answered the door, so I knocked again, louder. I waited with sweaty palms, bouncing nervously on the balls of my feet and tossing the package back and forth between my hands in a pointless attempt at distraction until I heard Jenna give Emily the command to go upstairs, followed by the staccato clacking of high-heeled footsteps on their way to the door. I wiped my hands on my shorts and plastered on an innocent, friendly smile as the door swung open to reveal the deep-scowling, unforgiving face of a very angry Jenna Fitch.

Jenna was everything her daughter wasn't; hard eyes, a face aged beyond her years, marred by deep frown lines, a noxious, severe aura; a negative for every one of Emily's positives. I wondered if maybe giving birth to Emily took it all out of her, maybe she exhausted her reserves of kindness and transferred them all over to Emily and now she was left with a heart of stone and a daughter with one of gold. How else could Emily be the way she was with a woman like that as her mother?

"Can I help you?" Jenna spat and I remembered that I had a reason for standing on the porch and it wasn't to ponder the likelihood of beauty being born from ugliness.

"Oh yes, sorry. I just saw this package on your porch and I thought I should let you know. In case someone were to steal it, or something. Can't trust people these days." I forced a chuckle and prayed that it didn't sound as pathetic as it felt.

Jenna flicked guarded eyes between my face and the box in my hands, "Of course." She said stiffly, "I suppose I should thank you."

"No need for that. Just trying to be a good citizen." I grinned nervously and tried to make it reach my eyes as I kept them locked with Jenna's.

"Was there something else you needed?"

"Sorry?"

"If you don't need anything else, I would like my package now please." Jenna clarified, none-too-kindly.

"Uh I, uh…" I stuttered pitifully. I obviously hadn't thought far enough into this. The plan was to get inside and at this rate I wasn't even going to get past the doorstep. I grappled mercilessly with my brain to come up with any feasible solution, no matter how feeble, and eventually wrestled out the oh-so eloquent; "Bathroom? Can I use your bathroom?"

Jenna's hard brown eyes nearly disappeared under the force of her scowl, "I don't make a habit of inviting strangers into my home."

"Please ma'am. It's an emergency." I whined like a child and I was not at all above crossing my legs and squatting into a potty dance right then and there, but I really hoped she would let me in before it came to that.

"Alright, fine. If you must." Jenna relented, though certainly not out of the kindness of her heart and purely to avoid the shame of having someone leave a puddle of piss on her doorstep, "It's just up the stairs, second door on your left. Please do hurry up."

"Yes, of course. Thank you so much." I said with as much sincerity as I could muster and followed Jenna into the house. She stopped at the foot of the staircase directly across the small foyer, one hand on the railing, the other on her hip and an impatient expression on her already unwelcoming face. I wedged past her, driving as much space between our bodies as the stairwell allowed, made my way up the dark hardwood stairs, and turned around to check that I hadn't been tailed once I reached the top.

* * *

><p><em>Second door on the left my ass.<em> "Emily?" I whispered cautiously, "Emily where are you?"

I received no answer, not that I really expected one, so I held my breath and listened. I soon heard the sound of stifled sobbing that seemed to come from a room only a step or two down the hall from me. The door had an odd sign decorating it; the word 'sexy' written in ostentatiously shiny, silver cursive letters. It didn't exactly scream Emily, so before I rapped my knuckles against the wood, I crossed my fingers with a silent plea that I hadn't just made a mistake that would put me in an early grave.

I heard muffled footsteps and watched with baited breath as the doorknob started to turn. Breath that drained from my lungs in an unsteady wisp when the door opened and I was greeted by a sight that I immediately decided I never wanted to see again.

"…Emily." I said, almost unconsciously, because I really couldn't say anything else. I had no other thoughts, no other words and I was left severely wanting in the ability to formulate any others because the state of Emily's face actually broke my brain, and very possibly my heart as well.

She was still unbelievably beautiful (Jenna would have to try much harder to take that from her, if it was even possible at all) though her right cheek was swollen and welted with an angry red handprint, the impressions left by each finger painfully obvious against the smooth porcelain backdrop of her skin. The left side of her face had a jagged scratch running the length of her cheekbone to her jawline, most likely caused by the rough, flashy stone of a ring. Her nose was bleeding. Truly bleeding, leaving a dark red stream that glistened as it grazed over the top of her lip. Both her cheeks were stained black with a briny trail of mascara and tears and her eyes, eyes that I had spent the majority of the past few hours marveling at their near permanent happy twinkle, were now puffy and full of the tears that still rolled freely over her drenched bottom lashes.

She sniveled and hiccupped and my heart cracked just that little bit more, "Naomi?" she looked confused, but that quickly transformed into unmistakable panic, "Wha – how did you? What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here! Naomi, you have to leave! Quick, before she sees you! Please!"

I put my hand over her mouth, so gently that I was sure it wasn't actually accomplishing anything, but I would have rather her mom beat me to a bloody pulp than risk hurting Emily any more than she already was, "Shh." I whispered, "It's okay, she knows I'm here." Emily's eyebrows knitted together in a doubtful frown, so I elaborated, "Okay, fine," I rolled my eyes in good-natured surrender, "she doesn't know _why_ I'm here or who I am, but I swear she did let me in. It's a long story, but, basically, I'm supposed to be using your bathroom." I smiled warmly at her and tried not to think about how neither the flow of her tears nor her blood had stemmed.

Emily's eyes brightened enough for me to permit myself a smidgen of relief. Her eyes drifted closed as she pressed her lips tenderly, testingly against my palm and, when she next opened them, her tears were refracting happily at the edges, "You're really here."

I thought that a good a moment as any to remove my hand, "I am." I brushed away her tears with a soft, swooping arc of my thumb, "Now let's go get you cleaned up, okay?"

Emily nodded, just once and smiled, just barely.

I took her hand, threw a cautionary glance over my shoulder and, with the stealth of an undercover government operative, slinked across the hall to that second door on the left that I was supposed to have been behind this entire time. I turned the doorknob, ushered Emily inside, and closed the door with the handle still twisted to mask the unavoidable _click_ of the latch sliding back into place as much as possible. I directed Emily over to the toilet seat and helped her sit down. Deep down, I knew she didn't need the assistance, but it made me feel a little less inadequate to pretend.

"Do you have paper towels in here? Normal towels? Rags, face cloths, anything?' I tried to ramble away the constricting of my chest that started the moment I saw how much worse Emily's injuries looked in the harsh, virtually fluorescent light of the bathroom.

"Yeah, there should be some clean hand towels on the bottom shelf of the cabinet under the sink." She informed me and I was already delving through the various toiletries and household products stored in the cupboard when Emily called my attention back to her, "Um, Naomi?" she hazarded, picking at one of several small holes in the in striped cotton of the pajama shorts she had changed into. The shorts had obviously seen better days. I figured that was probably the point. "If – If there's" she puffed out her cheeks and winced as it stretched the tender skin on her damaged face and looked almost apologetically up at me, "If there's a red one, would you grab it, please? Camouflage, you know?" she attempted a chuckle, and though she had mercifully stopped crying, the sound was still watery.

It was that more than anything else that put a visible crack in the floodgates I had until that moment been able to dam. That she was trying to make light of the situation, trying to make _me_ feel more at ease, even as she sniffed and wiped a finger above her top lip to put a temporary drought in the stream of blood from her button nose.

I tilted my head back and willed for the burning of tears to subside, or at least for the stinging liquid to retreat back to the corner pockets of my eyes out of respect for the pocket-sized titan sitting in front of me. I had no reason at all to be crying, so I made myself smile when I dropped my chin to look at her again, "Sure, Emily. You got it." And then I turned and knelt in front of the open cabinet door, searching its shelves for a red cloth. I rummaged through the stack of pale blues, creams, and browns and felt Emily's eyes prickling the skin between my shoulders; burning more intensely the longer I looked.

"Why did you come back?" She asked as I finessed a maroon cloth out from its hiding place at the very bottom of the stack, carefully, as if it were a particularly risky peg in a meticulously arranged Jenga tower. I didn't want to leave any evidence. This was not a game I wanted to lose. It wasn't really a game at all.

I rocked back onto my heels and stood up, turning on the tap to run the washcloth under warm water as I thought about how to reply.

_Why did I come back?_

The obvious answer would be because I was a concerned citizen, worried just like anyone else would have been. Because people shouldn't be abused, ever, by anyone, and I wanted to prevent it from happening to someone.

But that was a cop out.

I wouldn't have pulled the wool over the head of a wolf if this was just some faceless, nameless person being battered and bruised. Truthfully, I was here because I _cared_. Really cared. It was because this person had a name and they had a face, the most stunning one I had ever seen, that I was standing in front of a stranger's sink, making sure the wash cloth in my hands was soft enough and just the right temperature. It was because it was Emily that made all the difference, and that terrified me.

"I think I heard you scream" I offered, because just thinking about telling Emily the real reason set off a cacophony of alarm bells in my head. I kept my back turned to her, bent over the sink, wringing out the rag with more force than necessary and clenching my jaw, attempting to slow my racing heart, my frantic brain, to ease the pounding of blood against my ear drums. I couldn't think about that right now. I just couldn't. I had better things to do. So I breathed out, turned back around, erasing as much of the fear from my face as I could, and took my place in front of Emily again.

The second I knelt down on the plush mat in front of the toilet and leveled my face with hers, I could sense that she wasn't done. I could see the question in her soft brown eyes before she asked it and I knew it wasn't going to be one that I liked. I wasn't wrong.

"No, I mean why are you here? In my bathroom. _Helping _me." She pressed, quietly, her wide eyes searching, looking at me as if I had just dropped from the heavens.

I just stared back at her, frozen and silent, but I wanted to grab her, shake her, tell her to stop looking at me like that because I didn't deserve it. Because I wasn't anything remotely special. I was just a girl, a foolish girl, acting on impulse. I was confused out of my mind and I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew I had to be doing it. I felt like I didn't have the option of leaving, even if I wanted it. Like someone was pinning me down saying, _"See this girl? You care about her, whether you like it or not. Deal with it and don't ask questions."_

And that didn't sit well with me, not at all.

The wiring of my brain did not compute tasks like that. I wanted to ask questions, but had no one to ask them to. I needed answers, but had no way of getting them. I felt trapped in my skin, wanting to be exactly where I was, but, at the same time, as far away as possible. I felt like I was the frayed rope in a tug of war between two oppositional forces of equal strength and my chest hurt. It hurt because Emily was hurt and it hurt even more _because_ it hurt that Emily was hurt. A vicious cycle that just got worse and worse the more I thought about it. I was thrown into an optical illusion, that black and white vortex, that continuous spiral that makes your eyes lose focus because they can't distinguish the end from the beginning. I couldn't fucking see straight. So I squeezed my eyes shut, dug my nails into my thighs, not caring that the wet cloth in my hands was soaking my skin, and willed for the spinning to stop. And, after the nausea had receded enough, I opened my eyes to find Emily still looking at me with almost the same expression. I wanted to throw up all over again, but I forced myself to answer her. I had to swallow down my panic. I could freak out later, on my own time. Right now, I was on Emily's. I was on Jenna's. Borrowed time that I knew was running out. You can only stay in a bathroom for so long before someone gets suspicious.

"I don't know. I just am. Can that be good enough for now, please?" I said, looking at her intently, beseechingly, and nearly collapsing with relief when she retracted that invasive, probing look in her eyes as she seemed to dig up my buried meaning.

"Yeah. More than." She said, leaning back against the toilet seat, "Much more than." Emily smiled then, slightly disbelieving, but a real smile all the same, one that lit up her eyes in a way I hadn't seen since stepping into this house.

"Tell me if this hurts, okay?" I asked. Emily hummed in response and closed her eyes as I lifted the cloth to the caked on blood above her lip. I wiped it away in gentle strokes, and after a few passes, it was gone. It was too easy, I thought, way too easy to erase that sickening burgundy stain. Something like that shouldn't disappear after nothing more than a dab or two of warm water. It represented something far too awful to just go away like that.

"Do you think it's done bleeding?" I asked her, because I half-expected a sneak attack of blood to start spurting from her nose.

"Yeah I think so." Emily replied, "It usually doesn't bleed for very long."

My heart stuttered a beat at that subtle, probably accidental, insinuation, but I ignored it and opted to turn my attention to the scratch on Emily's cheek instead.

Upon closer inspection, it was deeper than it looked. _Jenna must have one hell of a backhand_, I thought to myself as I started pressing timidly onto the torn skin. I could only imagine the kind of ring that left a mark that profound; gaudy, too big for its own good, undoubtedly expensive. There was a certain irony in something like that being used for something like this, but I couldn't work it out at the moment because, suddenly, Emily inhaled sharply through her teeth and jerked away from the gentle touch that apparently wasn't gentle enough.

"Sorry, sorry!" I exclaimed quickly as the cloth fell from my fingers and landed with an anticlimactic absence of sound against the bathroom tile.

"No, no you're fine. I'm fine. Just stung a bit. It's okay."

"Think it would be better if the rag was cold? Like ice?" I picked the cloth back up and a waved it like a flag for no reason at all, "'Cause I can't really get ice right now, but I_ can_ make the rag cold. If you want, I mean." I babbled hopelessly. I was really good at that when it came to Emily, I noticed.

"It's alright. You can just leave it." Emily said, reaching out for the rag and giving it a little tug, signaling for me to let go. I did, and she tossed it like a basketball into a hamper off in the back corner of the bathroom, "Don't worry about it, it'll heal itself fine." She said lightly, giving me a soothing smile.

_Again with the fucking role reversal._ What was with this girl? Was she actually an angel? Or maybe the long-lost love child of Mother Theresa and Ghandi? Because, really, she was kind of making the rest of humanity look bad.

"Is there anything else I can do?" I asked her, soundly disheartened at my complete lack of knight-in-shining-armor-ism.

"Yeah." Emily nodded cheerfully,confusing the shit out of me because where the fuck did she get off being happy right now? "Just…hold me?"

_Oh. _I felt myself start to smile._ That I can do_. _That I can definitely do._

"Absolutely." I replied, shuffling forward to get closer to her, but stopping myself short of the intended embrace.

"Actually," I mused, "this might work better if you get off the toilet."

Emily chuckled quietly, "Good point. Lap?" she asked.

"Lap." I nodded and scooted over to rest my back against the wall, pretzeling my legs and patting my thighs as I smiled up at Emily, happy to be of at least some service.

Emily slid off the toilet seat and was clambering into my lap in no time at all. She squirmed around for maximum comfort, wriggling her hips to settle between my legs and nuzzling herself into my shoulder with a contented little sigh that warmed my skin.

The levels of adorable that she reached were unchartable. I almost didn't want to wrap my arms around her, in fear of tainting the overwhelming amount of pure cuteness in my lap, but I did anyways with a happy hum of my own as a bent my head forward, burying it in the shampoo-scented softness of her hair.

As the minutes passed, I was getting increasingly disquieted by the quiet we were sitting in. Emily seemed…fine. Just fine. She was radiating waves of calmness that had the complete opposite effect on me. She shouldn't have been calm. It didn't make any sense.

"Emily?" I ventured, "Why aren't you more bothered by this?"

"Used to it. It's not so bad after it's over. The anticipation is always the worst part. Like getting your blood drawn."

That was not an answer I liked. At all. That analogy was sick, wrong, and it fell with too much ease from her lips. Rehearsed, almost.

"No, Emily. It's not like getting your blood drawn." I replied hotly, "People get their blood drawn to help them. To figure out what's wrong with them. Not to fucking hurt them. It's completely fucking different. You shouldn't have to be used to shit like this. This never should have happened to you, not even once. It's horrible. It's so horrible."

"Hey." Emily frowned, running the pad of her thumb in between my furrowed eyebrows, smoothing out the distressed lines, "Relax. It's okay."

"No it's fucking not." I swatted her hand away, immediately hated myself for it and reached out for her hand again, cradling it in my own by way of nonverbal apology, "And stop doing that."

"Doing what, exactly?" Emily eyeballed me like I had just signed over the deed to my sanity. Admittedly, I kind of felt like I had.

"Comforting me! That should be my job right now. You're too – Christ, I don't even know what you are." _Yes, you do,_ my brain supplied_, Perfect. Flawless. Unable to be improved upon in any way, shape, or form. Take your pick._

I geared myself up for the spectacular task of arguing with myself, but was startled out of my only partially internal turmoil by Emily's lips landing on mine.

"You're cute when you're flustered, you know." Emily said, smiling cheekily as she pulled away.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. My brain needed more time to recuperate. _I am so fucked. So fucking fucked._

"Naomi, you need to chill out, okay?" Emily said, "We've already been in here a good fifteen minutes and my mom is not stupid. It's a wonder she hasn't come banging already, really. We don't have much time left until she does, so we might as well make the most of it."

I pulled back and stared at her, appalled, "That sounded like a proposition. You did not just proposition me."

"No, you twat. Just be quiet, stop freaking out and," she grabbed my arms and repositioned them around her waist, "do that."

"I still don't understand why you aren't more upset." I murmured stubbornly, even as I relaxed into the warmth of Emily's little body in my lap. Someone that small shouldn't be so warm, but I liked it.

"You don't need to understand." Emily answered and, jesus, I wished she knew how much simpler my life would be if that were true.

In a way, I was glad that I had bigger things to be scared of. If I hadn't, I would have been paralyzed by the neurotoxins this sweet, harmless little redhead seemed to be emitting. She turned the muscles in my arms into tingly, useless jello as I wrapped them around her, protecting her from things I could never fully understand. But I was saved from thinking about that because there was a sharp, bony knock on the door that summoned up and commanded the attention of all the fear that my brain was capable of producing.

"You've been in there quite a while, young lady. Is everything alright?" The overpowering, sickly sweet sound of Jenna's false concern left a bitter taste in my mouth.

"Yes ma'am." I said with forced lightness, looking straight into Emily's eyes, "Everything's fine. My stomach's just a little bit upset," Emily's eyes narrowed, understandably; it was too much information to share even if it was true, but I had a plan, "My mom made this soup last night – artichoke and beetroot, I think," I said and Emily clapped a hand over her mouth, caging the betraying cackle that almost escaped as she caught on, "It looked like cat sick and tasted even worse," Emily started quaking with the effort of holding herself together and she slammed her eyes shut, squeezing the building tears of laughter over the edge and sending them flowing down her flushed cheeks. I wasn't doing much better. My face was burning and my throat was screwed tight with barely contained laughter as I hunched over and hid my head in Emily's unsteady shoulder. I filled my lungs to full capacity, held in the calming oxygen, and released it in a shuddery gust that blew back Emily's hair once I felt it was safe to speak, "I'll be out in a minute."

All was quiet for a moment while Jenna took the time to work out whether that was just a ridiculously unlikely coincidence or if I was somehow plotting against her within the confines of her bathroom. "I see." she said slowly, seemingly going with the first option. I didn't particularly feel the need to correct her, but I did feel the need to grin triumphantly at Emily.

The redhead mouthed 'you're brilliant' and grinned even wider back at me, her eyes sparkling with uncontainable joy. My heart swelled and not even the looming presence outside the door could stop it.

"Well, when you've finished, I wonder if you could return this package back to the neighbors? It must have been delivered to us by mistake."

There was no edge to her words, nothing to indicate that she had clued onto the real reason for me infiltrating her home, but I had trouble making out the sound of my voice over the battering of my heart when I responded, "Sure, no problem. I'll take it right over."

"Thank you." Jenna said simply, curtly, bringing an end to the multi-layered encounter.

Emily looked at me strangely as we held our breath and waited for conformation that Jenna had left us in peace. After a few moments, we got it in the form of creaking floorboards as the stairs took on Jenna's weight.

"Package?" Emily inquired after a moment more.

"Um, yeah." I laughed sheepishly and looked down, "I may or may not have stolen one from your neighbor's porch as part of an elaborate and really not well thought out plan to get inside your house."

"Why?"

I looked up, meeting her eyes again, "For you."

Emily smiled softly, "I meant why the package."

"Oh." I said dumbly, "Couldn't think of anything else. I knocked on your door and told your mom it had been left on the porch and then I kind of panicked and pretended I had to use the bathroom so I could get inside. And now here I am." I said, attempting levity and lifting my arms and spreading them out as Emily continued to stare at me, an indiscernible slew of emotion on her face. I dropped my arms when she didn't drop her eyes.

"You did all of that for me?"

"…Yeah. I did."

Emily was quiet for a long second, but she never once looked away, "Thank you, Naomi." she said, "Really. Just…thank you."

"Don't mention it. It was nothing."

"Nothing? You realize that stealing mail is a federal offense, right?" Emily said, smirking, though the smugness was tempered by the affection in her eyes.

"Yeah, I know. Really don't mention that part, probably."

"Wasn't planning on it."

Our staring contest continued; Emily in my lap, so close to my face, and me on the ground, so far from feeling grounded. It was just like before, back at the bonfire, and the intimacy wasn't lost on me this time either. For the second time in my life, within the span of a few hours, with a girl I had only known as long, I felt like time could stop and I would be totally okay with it. The tile was hard and uncomfortable and my back had probably long gone numb, but I couldn't really be sure. I felt too alive.

"As much as I don't want you to," Emily said, "you should probably leave before she comes back."

"What are you going to do? Where is everyone else?"

"Katie is still dead to the world and she will be for a while longer. James spent the night at Gordon's and my dad's already at work. I was supposed to be there, too, but I can't exactly show my face like this so I'm going back to bed."

"And your mom?"

"She'll be leaving for work soon."

"So you'll be alone?"

"Yeah, but I –"

"Come back with me." I cut her off, "At least while she's at work."

"Naomi…" she said, aggrieved, "I can't."

"Why not? She won't know. And we can think of some way to get you out of this mess. My friends can help. My mom can help. I can help." I said, "Just come back for a bit and we'll think of something."

"How do you expect that to work? I can't just walk out the door with you."

"I'll wait at the stop sign."

"She drives past it on her way to work."

"I'll wait in your backyard."

"She'll see you."

"I'll hide somewhere she can't"

Emily stared me down and I stared back unwaveringly. After a minute, she seemed to realize that I wasn't going to back down from this and she nodded. "Okay." She said, "Okay, I'll come back with you. For a bit. Just wait under the stairs of the deck. I'll be out as soon as I can."

I leant forward and kissed her, "Thank you." I didn't really know why I was thanking her, but it felt like the right thing to do. "I'll be outside."

Emily distractedly crawled out of my lap and sat herself on the tile next to me, staring off into somewhere obviously full of thought. I got to my feet and looked down at her. She didn't seem to be emerging anytime soon, so I bent down and kissed her forehead before leaving the bathroom.

* * *

><p>No more than five minutes later, after a considerably awkward conversation with Jenna in which she had to pretend that, for all she knew, I didn't just defile her bathroom and I had to pretend that I didn't despise every fiber of her being, I was walking back towards the neighbor's house, stolen package in hand. I casually strolled up their porch steps like they were my own, set the box down, turned around and loosely hopped my way back to level ground. I headed back to Emily's, careful not to put myself in view from the windows, and crept up the side of her lawn, glancing over my shoulder before unhinging the gate to Emily's backyard.<p>

The elevated deck, high enough to double as a balcony, cast a crooked shadow over the impeccably groomed grass and I walked through it to sit under the weather-worn staircase. The ground there was in a state between mud and dirt and the air was damp, not having the benefit of being touched by the rays of summer sun.

I tucked my hands beneath me and folded my knees to my chest, resting my head against the wood behind me and closing my eyes as I waited and waited for Emily.

It was a place for worms and insects and apparently not quite grown up girls who weren't used to turning off their brain and I wasn't sure how long I sat there. I felt it was too long, though, and worry started seeping back into my bones, entertaining thoughts of marching up the steps and wrenching back the sliding glass door into Emily's house, by the time I heard a nearby car engine roar to life.

I jerked to attention and waited some more, this time with hope mingling with the apprehension. I heard the sound of feet slapping against the wood above me and I craned my neck backwards to peek through the spaces between in each step, just in time to see the sole of a flip-flop passing over the gap. Seconds later, Emily was rounding the corner.

"Hi." She smiled, shyly, keeping a palm against the stairwell and leaning into it. "You're still here."

"So it would seem." I smirked and stood up.

"I thought you may have left." Emily revealed as I brushed off the soggy dirt from my shorts.

"Nope." I said, "Ready to go?" I held my hand out for her to take. She looked at it, then back at me, before threading her fingers through mine and nodding.

The walk back was spent in almost necessary silence. There weren't words important enough break it, at least not ones that I wanted to say, and Emily couldn't seem to find any either.

The sun got hotter as it scaled the sky and I could feel the beginnings of a burn crisping my already tanned shoulders by the time we reached the shade of the trees at the wooded fence to my clearing.

When we made it through the forest to the field, Cook and Freddie were out in the middle of it, tossing a baseball back and forth.

Cook missed Freddie's pitch when he clocked our arrival and the ball soared passed him as he howled at us, "Blondie! And Emilio! What a lovely surprise! We were wondering where you two got off to." I fought down the urge to roll my eyes because even at a distance, I could see Cook's bushy eyebrows dancing suggestively, "You ladies up for a game of catch?" He sauntered towards us, leaving a bemused Freddie behind him.

"Not right now, Cook." I called back, squeezing Emily's hand and leading us farther into the clearing.

"What's up Naomikins? You aren't one to turn down a competition." Cook frowned and it only deepened as he got close enough to see the redhead's face. He stopped short and pointed a dubious finger at the marks that were still horribly obvious, "Woah. Hang on. What the fuck happened here?" He shifted his eyes to me, inquiring. I shook my head, making him look back at Emily. "You okay Emilio man?"

"Getting there." She responded.

"What's going on?" Freddie asked, jogging over.

"Don't know." Cook answered at the same time I said:

"Can you just go get everyone, please? We have to help."

Cook took off without another word and Freddie only blinked stupidly at Emily's face for a second longer before following him, neither of them questioning it further. I would have been hard-pressed to think of a time that I loved them more.

I steered Emily towards the communal sand pit in the middle of the clearing, normally used for late night bonfires or idle conversations between friends with nothing better to do, never used for something of this magnitude. But as Emily and I sat down in chairs adjacent to each other, the air felt significant.

Distinct voices started drifting over the mostly empty expanse of grass and as I looked over my shoulder, I saw Cook emerging from my mom and Kieran's RV with the entire family in tow, undoubtedly interrupting them from a lazy late morning breakfast.

I looked back to Emily and gave her an encouraging smile, simply because I knew how badly I would need one if I were in her position. If I were about to have my secrets put on the operating table for a group of strangers to poke and prod at in hopes of stitching things together the right way.

Emily smiled back and any lingering thoughts that this was a mistake, that it was too much, flew out the window.

It felt right and, for once, for right now, I didn't need answers.

* * *

><p><strong>Comments, concerns, complaints, congrats?<strong>

**(Ali alliterates a lot.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: So…I suck and I'm really sorry it took so long to get this up, but shit is very real right now, so updates will probably not be all that frequent. I'll get better at writing once I get better at living. Unfortunately, that might not be for a while.**

* * *

><p>It was almost surreal, watching the mismatched group of eight as they moved toward us as one. I tracked the repetitive rise and fall of their feet, amazed that each new cycle of limbs brought me closer to something I had never had before.<p>

Help.

Help and care and people to give it.

It wasn't that the opportunity never presented itself. It was there when my fourth grade teacher wondered why I never drew pictures of my mom holding my hand with a smile and a sliver of sunshine in the corner like the rest of the kids. It was there when Mrs. Mills from across the street wondered why a thirteen year old girl spent so much time gardening with flowers instead of gossiping with friends. It was there when my tenth grade English teacher wondered why I wore long sleeves the whole last week of the year, why I wasn't celebrating the rebirth of summer by defying the dress code like the rest of the school. It was there whenever someone wondered why I was different. I just could never bring myself to tell them.

But Naomi didn't wonder. Naomi saw and she didn't ask if I needed help, she just gave it. She took the reins and she may not have had control of the horse, it may have still been bucking and braying, but at least she was trying. And now she was getting her friends, her family, to try too. And the warm feeling in my stomach wouldn't go away.

"Naomi love, what's going on?" asked an older woman I hadn't seen before, leading the band of misfits toward their as of yet unoccupied chairs.

Her hair was short and natural blonde. Her eyes were earthy brown in place of cloudless blue and her features were wound together quizzically, but she was obviously Naomi's mom. I tried not to be effected by that realization, but it's difficult not to care about meeting the woman responsible for raising someone with superpowers. Especially when the one responsible for raising you didn't do such a hot job.

Naomi's mom shifted her eyes to me and I shifted in my seat, uncomfortable though her gaze was nothing but motherly.

"Hello dear," She said kindly, "I presume you're the reason for this impromptu summoning? What's your name?"

I opened my mouth to answer but closed it ineffectually soon after, looking down and blushing at my inability to answer possibly the simplest question that could ever be asked of me.

"This is Emily, Mom. She's a…friend?" Naomi responded for me, a blush of her own taking over her cheeks as we exchanged a quick, bashful glance. "Ems, this is my mom. Gina." Naomi continued, overlooking the radiantly proud smile that her mom was now sporting.

"Lovely to meet you, sweetie." Gina told me and the look on her face was almost enough to make me believe her, "What happened to that pretty face of yours?"

"That's kind of why I asked Cook to get you guys." Naomi said, looking around at the now seated and curious group. "I – we – need, Emily needs our help."

"With what, Naoms?" asked Pandora innocently, ignorantly. She turned and smiled at me, "Hi, Emily!" she waved enthusiastically, "S'nice to see you again!" she said brightly before her smile suddenly vanished and she dropped her head to whisper shamefacedly and far too loudly to Effy, "Am I allowed to say that? On account of her face bein' hurt and sad and all?"

Effy chuckled wryly, "I don't think she minds, Panda."

The bubbly blonde picked her head back up, looking laughably relieved, "Whizzer. Thought I boobed for a second there." She said, smiling at me again. "Anyways, it is real good to see you again. And I think your face is still wicked pretty, by the way. So don't feel bad 'cause you don't look it. Well, I mean…you do, but you don't." She concluded, grinning broadly.

"Thanks, Panda. It's nice to see you too." I replied honestly.

"She's right, Red. Still as smokin' as before." Cook winked and I sent him a grateful smile, aware that the lewdness was just a layer.

"Can we get back on topic here, please?" Naomi huffed.

"Yes, but how exactly are we supposed to help?" Effy stated. It might have seemed rude had it come from someone else, but I already knew Effy just didn't see the point in dancing around an issue everyone knew was there. "We don't have any details."

Naomi looked at me, "Em?" She prodded, "You want to tell them?"

"Um. Sure." I said, "Well, to be honest, I don't really know if you guys can help, but what happened was my mom. She got angry when I got back because I wouldn't – well, couldn't – tell her where I'd really been and she…she doesn't handle her anger well." I left it there, purposefully keeping it vague for now. I guess I didn't think it would be very fair for me to hurl the whole truth at them without some indication of where it was heading. Though, honestly, the marks on my face may have accomplished that for me.

The sound of the breeze playing through the leaves, of distant waves churning and distant cars polluting was amplified as everyone went silent. I couldn't tell if it was because they were waiting for me to continue, or if they just didn't know what to say.

"She beats you." Effy voiced after a minute and a visible recoil travelled through the circle, like the words and their meaning were heavy enough to physically manifest and cause harm all on their own.

"Not all the time. She just loses control when she gets mad." I said.

"How often does she get mad?" Freddie stepped up to the plate, taking a swing at the curveball they were just thrown.

"Often enough for me to know I need to be here right now." I answered. If I was being honest with myself, I knew I should have been somewhere like there a long time ago.

"And the rest of your family? What do they do? They don't just let this happen do they?" Gina speculated, dismay at the thought evident on her face.

"She never does it when anyone else is around. She's…strategic. My dad and little brother are oblivious and I'd rather they stay that way. My sister knows, and she hates it, but there isn't really anything she can do about it. She tried confronting my mom once and it didn't end well for either of us so yeah, it just kind of happens."

"Your mom is a right nasty fucker, so it seems." The scruffy man next to Gina spoke without a hint of tact or shame at that fact. It made me smile. These people felt like a whole new world. "I'm Kieran, by the way." he added, "Patriarch of this little clan."

"Kieran, please. The only thing you're the head of is the line at the buffet." Gina admonished him with a laugh before turning back to me, "Well, Emily. It seems to me that we need to figure out a way to keep you away from your home as much as possible. You're welcome here anytime, of course, but your mom isn't likely to just let you wander is she?" She raised a knowing eyebrow.

"No. She's not." I answered, though the question was probably rhetorical.

"Right. So, we need to think of a suitable excuse. Something believable, but vague enough that she won't check into it…" Gina trailed off, pondering, "Any ideas children?" She prompted.

"Why don't you just tell her she's a raging bitch and come camp out with us?" Cook wondered, quite seriously.

I felt the blood drain from my face just thinking about putting that idea into action. Naomi noticed and reached over, covering my hand with hers, rubbing from my wrist to my knuckle with her thumb.

"Not your best plan, Cook. We're trying to keep from pissing her mom off, not inciting it." She said.

"Well. That's me spent." Cook said, slapping his thighs and leaning back in his chair, tilting it off-kilter.

"You could tell her that the statistical likelihood of you becoming a successful member of society after growing up in an abusive household is astronomically low and that it's in everyone's best interest for you to move out?" JJ suggested. It was an improvement, sure, but it still kept me firmly on edge.

"Let's steer away from the confrontational ideas, guys." Naomi instructed, weaving her fingers through mine.

"Maybe tell her you have discovered a special talent for photography and that you'll be spending your free time developing it?" Thomas's proposal was certainly the best yet, but something still wasn't right with it.

"Too unconventional." I decided, "But it's a start." I smiled at him, needing to not seem ungrateful.

Everyone went quiet. I could all but hear them thinking, could feel their frustration growing with each passing unsuccessful second and I was about to stop them with a heartfelt thanks for their time and concern, but Effy cut me off.

"Animal shelter." She declared. All of us frowned at her, left in the dark, and it compelled her to explain further, "From what I can tell, your mom won't want to step foot into a building full of dirty mutts, but she'd let you so that she could brag about her 'philanthropic daughter'."

My mouth fell open. My eyes flew wide. The accuracy of that characterization was awe-inspiring. If slightly terrifying, "You're a genius, Effy! It's perfect!"

"I don't know how you do it, Stonem." Naomi shook her head gently and laughed.

I looked at girl still holding my hand and smiled, a huge, astounded smile. And when I did, when she grinned the same way back, it felt like something more, like the turn of a page, the start of something new.

* * *

><p>Naomi's bed was nice. The sheets were black, but speckled with stars, every constellation you could ever think of plotted onto the cotton, like the expanses of outer space all rolled up and tucked over the corners of a mattress. Only minus the violent collisions of asteroids, hungry black holes, and fiery deaths of beautiful things. Just the serenity of nothingness.<p>

I was lying down, had been for a long while. I needed time to recuperate, Naomi said, and she must have been right because the peace I found on that twin-sized bed was doing me wonders. There was a sunroof built in above her bed and I folded my hands over the dip between my ribcage, watching the clouds drift in and out of the frame. It was a nice day out and there weren't many, but I found pictures where I could. A lot of them looked oddly heart-shaped, I noticed.

Before Naomi had left to give me some time alone, she had pulled shut a privacy screen that I wouldn't have known was there. It wasn't much, but it was solid and effective enough at closing off the rest of the caravan. I jumped slightly as the thin divider rattled underneath an uncertain knock.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Can I come in?"

I smiled to myself. It might have been from just the sound of her voice, or because she was asking me permission to come into her own room.

"It's your bed, Naomi." I teased.

She slid back the barrier and eased herself onto the very edge of the bed.

I rolled onto my side to face her.

"How are you feeling?" she asked. "You're face looks better. Less painful, I mean."

"I'm okay." I smiled and tentatively touched the cheek that had taken the worst damage, "It doesn't feel like it's going to bruise. The scratch should fade soon. Your bed's nice."

"That's good." She said absentmindedly and her eyes flicked down to the empty space next to me.

"Do you want to lie down?" I scooted over optimistically, "There's plenty of room."

"No, it's okay." She stood up in almost negative time, "I just wanted to check on you. I'll let you be now. Get some rest." She suggested, hastening off toward the door.

It took a few seconds for my brain to catch up, but I shouted out when it did. "Naomi, wait!"

She turned around and did, putting her hands in her pockets, a protective stance for someone trying to feel less vulnerable.

"Stay?" I requested, "I've already napped. I'm not tired. I mean, you can stay if you want. I want you to stay."

She didn't say anything, didn't move. Just breathed and stared and blinked conflicted eyes. Then, finally, she nodded, strided over, and slid into bed next to me.

There was too much distance between us and I thought briefly about what I was going to do even though I knew I was going to do it anyways. I shimmied my hips once, twice until they were touching hers. I tensed when she did, relaxed when she did.

I tilted my head so that my chin was on her shoulder, my forehead was under her chin, and the pulse in her neck was playing my cheek like a bongo drum. I understood that completely because my heart was banging my ribs like a sugar-rushing toddler would a xylophone.

I turned onto my side and curled into her, risking draping an arm across her stomach. I closed my eyes and smiled when she picked up my hand. She started toying with my fingers, each of them in turn, and I felt brave.

"Naomi? What is this? Us?"

Immediately, she dropped my hand and I didn't feel so brave anymore. She rolled away from me and sat up straight and stiff. She looked up, her long neck bending back as she strained to study the clouds through the sunroof. I wanted to take it all back just to have her lying next to me again, but I wanted an answer even more, so I gnawed the inside of my lip and waited.

"I don't know, Emily. Can we not talk about that yet? One thing at a time, okay?" She urged to the sky. I wanted to know if she saw the same shapes I did. Somehow, I doubted it.

"So what, you can manipulate your way into a total stranger's house to stop her from hurting me, bring me to your camp-thing to get your family to help me, spend all that time with me, kiss me, kiss me and touch me like you really mean it, and just generally be a completely fucking lovely person, but now…" I trailed off and gathered my thoughts, "I need _something_, Naomi. Please?" I watched her not watching me, "Please just tell me that you feel this as much as I do." I reached for her hand again, just barely slipping my fingers into the gaps of hers.

"Emily, I…I really don't want to talk about this." Her words pulled her farther away but her hand held mine closer.

"There is a this though, right?" I couldn't help pulling back.

"Yes, okay? There really is. But…"

"But what?"

"There are things, Emily. Important things."

"We could be important."

Naomi stiffened even more, which I wouldn't have thought possible if I hadn't witnessed it. She hung her head and sighed. It wasn't an exclusively bad sigh, but I still held my breath until she finally looked at me and took it away. I didn't know what was happening in her eyes, but it was a lot and I didn't think I liked all of it.

"Do you want to do something?" she deflected.

I was a little taken off guard, but I didn't have it in me to question the abrupt subject change. Not when that fear of hers was back with a vengeance. I might as well have been holding a loaded .45 to her temple. "Yeah. Okay. What?"

"How much time do you have?" she asked and the tension ebbed slightly, like I had just locked the safety into place.

"My mom gets back at five." I answered.

"Perfect." She smiled and the gun was gone. "How do you feel about baseball?"

"That it's about as exciting as golf with the added danger of steroids?"

Naomi laughed, "I don't mean the boring professional shit. I mean baseball of the backyard variety. Good, not entirely clean, completely unorganized fun. Cook wants to get a game together and I'm sure he'd love for you to take a swing at his balls."

I laughed at the unveiled innuendo. "I'd be crazy to pass up an opportunity like that." I said. Baseball wasn't really my idea of fun, but I would have mucked horse stalls if it meant spending more time with her.

"So does that mean you're game?" Naomi asked hopefully.

"Yep. The gamest." I said

"Excellent!" Naomi sang, springing off the bed and turning to face me, "Up you get." She swatted my still very relaxed and comfy ankle, "Time to go."

"What?" I exclaimed, arching an eyebrow, "You mean _now?_"

"Uh. Yeah? Why not? Superstitious, Em? Do you need to go fetch your lucky underwear or something?" She joked, the corner of her lips turning up into a small smirk.

"Naomi. Do you see what I'm wearing?"

Before we left my house, I hadn't had the presence of mind to think of changing out of my pajamas and, as comfortable as they were; they weren't the most practical for running around. The shorts had a drawstring with a fickle temperament and would probably fall to my knees the moment I so much as jogged. The tank top on the other hand would go the opposite direction and ride up somewhere far too near my ribs for my liking. I wasn't comfortable showing that much skin unless I was on the beach. Or showering. Or most likely if Naomi was involved, but that, unfortunately, had yet to be proven.

She trailed her eyes over my body and if she hadn't noticed my very minimal amount of clothing before, she definitely noticed it now. Her eyes grew wide and got stuck in certain, very specific, places before she swallowed thickly and croaked, "…yes."

"Not exactly prime sporting attire." I said, sitting up at the edge of the bed, crossing my legs and chivalrously choosing to ignore the state she was in.

"You're right." She reasoned, "You can just borrow some stuff of mine. Might have to make a few size adjustments, but it's not like backyard baseball is a fashion show, so it shouldn't be a big deal. Unless you care about that kind of stuff?"

"No." I laughed, "Not at all. That's definitely Katie's department."

"Okay good. Just a different pair of shorts and a tee shirt fine then?"

"That'll work, yeah."

"Alright." She bent down and pulled out a drawer of the built-in dresser at the bottom of her bed, trawling through it for something suitable, "Here you go." She straightened up and blithely tossed an outfit at me. "These should work as well as can be hoped for."

I looked at the clothes in my lap. I untangled them from each other and picked up the shirt, clotheslining it between my hands to get a better look. Dropping it a second later and raising my eyebrows at Naomi, offering her a chance to explain herself.

"What?" She asked, perturbed, "You said you didn't care."

"And I don't. But." I picked the shirt up again and flapped it around, trying not to laugh, "This is a pig, Naomi."

"That's very astute of you, Emily."

"Did you _buy_ this? I mean, did you actually spend money on a pig shirt?"

"Yes." She huffed, crossing her arms, "It was for charity, okay?"

"That's very selfless of you, Naomi." I smirked, "Taking a hit to your wardrobe in the name of bacon bait everywhere."

"Bacon bait? That's terrible! I'll have you know that pigs are –"Naomi stopped herself after noticing me nearly puncturing a hole through my bottom lip with my eyes swimming in tears of internal amusement. "You know what?" She started, "Just give it back if you're only going to make fun of me." She said, making a lunge for the shirt.

I barely dodged her in time. I flung the shirt to the other side of my body, causing Naomi to miss, lose her balance and collide into the mattress. She bounced, quickly regained her bearings and I could tell she was gearing up for a second attack. I gripped the fabric tighter and felt not unlike a matador facing off against a charging bull. A very pretty charging bull.

"No." I shook my head, "I won't make fun of you anymore, I promise." I meant it, though she didn't buy it because my throat was tight and my voice was squeaky from trying to keep the laughter at bay.

Naomi glowered, but I didn't miss the flash of mirth that was too much for her to keep out of those beautiful blues, "Just give it back!" She punctuated the last word with another lunge, but I was waiting for it and decided to go on a different route of defense this time.

I kept the shirt where it was, trapped in my hands and flush against my body, and Naomi's efforts to snatch it back ended with her tackling me linebacker style, turning us into a jumbled heap on the sheets.

After a second-long stare-off, with my breath caught in my throat and with Naomi's forehead perilously close to resting against my own, we both stopped pretending to be anything other than kidding around and burst out laughing.

"Did you plan this?" Naomi accused lightly, quirking her lips at me with playfully narrowed eyes.

I shrugged, "Might have."

My eyes were immediately drawn to her lips. How could they not be? It was inevitable when they were so close, when we were so close and she was on top of me and my lips were still tingling with the memory of hers. I was dizzy with the need to kiss her again.

I raised myself up, intending to do just that, and Naomi was off like a shot.

I was confused. Somewhat because she appeared to be part lemur with the amount of distance she put between us in one leap, but mainly because she felt the need to leap away at all.

"I don't mean to sound like a douchey frat bro, but what's the big deal?" I asked, "It's not like we haven't done this already?" In my defense, I was dazed by the sudden lack of her body on mine and couldn't be depended on to speak with anything resembling tact.

Naomi stayed silent for a moment. "It was different before." she said, staring at her fingers as they fiddled with a ring, "It was…lighter. Easier. Or there were other things going on. But this is just you and me. And it feels bigger. And I can't – I just – I can't get my head around it."

I got it. I thought I got it. "Okay." I said, slowly accepting, "Well. I like you."

She managed a snort, "I gathered that much, funnily enough."

I brushed her snarkiness aside, "And you like me too."

She tensed, but gave a tiny nod regardless, "I do."

"Good enough for me." I kept the _for now_ in my head, "Let's play ball."

* * *

><p>If Effy was surprised when I plucked her up from the sand with ease all those hours ago, it was nothing compared to the look on everyone's faces as I drove yet another baseball up and far, far over the tree line.<p>

That made six.

Half a dozen baseballs that I had personally caused the disappearance of. I was quite proud of myself. Not a feeling I was terribly used to.

Laughing freely, I dropped the bat and rounded the bases to the cheers and whistles of Naomi, Effy, and Freddie. And also Pandora who apparently forgot we weren't on the same team and was attempting to wolf whistle with all of her clueless little heart.

I skipped the stretch between the ratty tennis shoe with the missing sole that marked third base and the rusty hubcap that served as home plate just because I could and I felt like it. Showboating was also not something I was used to. I wasn't even sure if I was doing it right, but it felt like I was. It felt like I could skip clear over the sun.

I was still giggly as I touched home and no sooner had my foot dinged dully against the metal than had Cook ambushed and wrapped me up in a noogie.

"You little fox!" He mock chided, tousling my hair, "You should have told us you were good at baseball!"

I squirmed out from underneath his arm and away from the cloud of Old Spice that surrounded him thick as fog in a moor. "And spoil the surprise?" I smirked and tried not to cough, "Never." Truthfully, I actually just had no idea that I _was_ good at baseball. Or at least the swinging and hitting things part of it.

"No heckling the MVP, Cookie." Naomi jogged over and the smile she sent me made me feel worth a multi-million dollar contract and a corporate sponsorship. "That _was_ quite impressive, Ems." She said, "I wonder what the chances are that you concussed a squirrel?"

"I dunno." I shrugged and played along, "Probably spooked a few."

"Poor little things." She shook her head forlornly to hide a smile, "They never even saw it coming."

"Enough about rodents, man. We," Cook interrupted, gesturing to Thomas, JJ, and Panda standing defeated and unconcerned in the background, "have decided to forfeit. Ain't got no chance with Babe Ruth over here. Extra emphasis on the babe."

I laughed, "You've got no chance with me in more ways than one, Cook."

"Yeah, yeah. Don't rub it in. You've wounded my pride enough already."

"Like you don't have an overwhelming surplus of that anyways." Naomi quipped, walking a few steps over to the plot of grass where we all had decided to pile our cell phones for safe-keeping. She purposefully shouldered into Cook instead of stepping around him. He staggered back but recovered quickly enough to aim a kick at her butt. They were so brother and sister it hurt.

Naomi bent down to grab her phone, tapping the button to make the screen come to life, sighing when it revealed something she apparently didn't like very much, "Damn." She said under her breath before uncrouching and walking back over, "It's almost five. Time to get you home, Cinderella."

Time. Reality. They're both funny things to lose track of and they both suck pretty bad when they weasel their way back into your consciousness.

I didn't want to go back home. I wasn't ready to go back to being the girl who scrubbed floors and hung clothes fancier than she would ever wear out to dry and could never get rid of the bruises on her knees or the dirt under her nails. I may not have had two evil step-sisters and an evil step-mom, but having one evil real-mom was much more painful.

"Should we start walking now?" I asked, regretfully.

"Probably." She answered the same way.

"We'll come with." Effy said. I guessed asking for permission was outside of her comfort zone.

"I think that's up to Emily, Effy." Naomi said dryly.

"I don't mind at all." I smiled widely at everyone, delightfully surprised that they would want to waste a good forty minutes of their lives and the energy of their legs just to walk me home, "The more the merrier."

With a quick word to Gina and Kieran, the verbal equivalent of a note scribbled on a piece of paper towel and abandoned on the dining room table, we all paired off and went shoulder-to-shoulder down the forest path that was quickly becoming familiar to me. I could only hope for the chance to memorize every bend in the road that separated me from her.

The walk back was stamped with personality.

Pandora had to be stopped from making conversation with every passerby who would spare her a listen. Freddie on his longboard raced Thomas on his feet and lost. We all raced each other away from a crotchety old man who was watering his lawn when Cook mooned him without giving either party a warning. We all paused and waited for JJ to collect the creepiest looking insect I had ever seen in a glass vial I was pretty sure he pulled out of thin air. I hung back and watched as hands linked to hips and feet and knees did some kind of convoluted can-can march.

I felt like I was watching a sitcom.

Naomi turned her head and smiled at me over her shoulder. She took her arm from Effy's waist and motioned for me to be another link in their chain. I hesitated a little too long and, with a smirk and an eye roll, Naomi grabbed my hand and I laughed as she tugged me forwards. She wedged me between her and Effy and I felt like part of the cast, even if I tripped a few times.

I knew these streets.

I knew the curb of the sidewalk off State Street was uneven. I knew that crossing Kensington was dangerous because drivers came around the turn like they weren't piloting the fourth leading cause of accidental death in America. I knew that there was a real fork in the road behind the café of the same name and that if we went left, I would get home ten minutes sooner. (We went right. I didn't much feel like shortening this walk.)

I knew this town. But I never knew it to feel like this.

It's amazing the difference company can make. It's amazing how quickly time can pass when you're with people who make you want it to slow and a girl who makes you want it to stop.

It's amazing how much you can hate your own street corner.

"Guys?" Naomi said to everyone, looking only at me. We were back at that same stop sign. "Can you give us a minute?"

"Right. Yes. Absolutely." JJ nodded forcefully, blinking each time, "In fact, I think I see a _Lethocerus americanus _over there. Common name Giant Water Bug. Their pinchers are quite fearsome, really. Did you know they're sometimes called Toe-Biters?" He announced, his words higher in pitch and speed, "Although they're rarely found away from water. No idea what it could possibly be doing over there." He giggled nervously.

Cook guffawed, "All the more reason to go check it out, eh Jaykins?" He clapped JJ on the shoulder and they were the first to wander off.

'Do we have to? I just painted my toes last night! I don't want them bitten off." Panda grumbled, "It took _ages_ to pick the right colors."

"Colors? Don't you mean color?" Freddie smirked, obviously satisfied that the use of the plural didn't slip past him.

"No, silly," Panda looked at him, bemused, "why would I only pick one color when I have twenty toes?"

Effy laughed and looped her arm through the blonde's, "Come on, Pandapops. I'll protect your piggies."

They joined Cook and JJ, who were out of earshot and not even pretending to look for anything toe-threatening. Pandora was dutifully followed by Thomas and Effy by Freddie until Naomi and I were left to ourselves.

"So." I said.

"Sooo…" She repeated.

I rolled my eyes, "This is stupid." And I wrapped my arms around her before she could even try to disagree.

"That was." Her arms came around me, hands resting on the small of my back and chin resting just above my cheek, "I don't think this is."

I pressed my hands more firmly against her shoulder blades and pulled her in tighter, tucking my head into the crook of her neck. We couldn't have fit better if we had been sculpted that way by the finest hands of the Renaissance. "No. This is stupid at all."

I felt her hand slip into the back pocket of the shorts I still had on loan and I gasped, my mind reeling, until I felt my cell phone slip out.

When I pulled back to look at her, she wagged my phone at me with a cheeky smirk.

"That was incredibly unfair." I scolded.

"Sorry." She grinned and stepped out of the embrace to tap expertly over the screen of my phone. A second later, three high-pitched beeps rang from her pocket. She patted it and smiled, "There. Now I have your glass slipper."

I laughed boisterously, "You are such a cheese-ball, Naomi Campbell."

"No, actually I'm really not. But you seem to inspire it in me."

I smiled at her. In the spotlight of the sun, her hair looked like it was spun from something that combined diamond and gold but was twice as precious. She was so beautiful.

I reclaimed the step she had taken away and I finally got to feel her lips again. It was nothing more than a peck, but it was one of the most crucial things I had ever done.

"Call me when you get your head around it, okay?"

Eyes still closed, she nodded and I walked away.

* * *

><p>"You seem different." Katie narrowed her eyes at me. She swung her bag behind her back and onto her bed without removing their scrutiny from my face. I was glad I covered the marks with makeup.<p>

"You don't." I countered, taking in her appearance. She rolled her eyes and turned to her dresser for a change of clothes, "Still wearing eye shadow and cake frosting to work reception at a gym?" I smirked.

Katie halted mid-disrobe and spun back around, royal blue and white Fitch Fitness v-neck stilled between her ribs and the pink cubic zirconium in her belly button, and arched her eyebrow, "Do you have any idea how many hot guys come to work out at our gym?" she tugged the shirt the rest of the way over her head, "It's like a treasure trove of six-packs and chiseled-ness."

I took a deep breath and wished that I had something stronger than oxygen to inhale. _Now or never. _"I don't really pay attention to the guys, Katie."

Her shirt fell somewhere on the floor. "…Right."

In the strained silence, I dropped my legs over the edge of my bed and tried using my toes to pick pieces of non-carpety things out of the carpet. Feet and their stubby appendages really aren't the best tools for this kind of procedure, but I was determined. I set my sights on a frayed piece of denim that had unraveled itself from a pair of jeans. I wouldn't look up. I tried to pinch it between my big and middle toes. It didn't work. I tried again. I couldn't bear to see Katie's face.

"Emsy…?"

"Yeah?" I could barely whisper.

"You know I don't care, right?" Katie said quickly, like if she didn't rush it out all in one breath she wouldn't get it out at all, and relief flooded through my body so fast and so strong that I trembled with it, "I mean, I know you've never actually told me, but despite outward appearances, I'm not stupid." I laughed quietly, shakily, my eyes welling up as I kept them trained on the fibers of our carpet, and whispered that I knew she wasn't. I felt her gentle smile from across the room before she got up and I felt the bed dip next to me, "I didn't like it at first. I fucking hated the idea of it to be honest." She chuckled humorlessly to herself. I didn't think it was funny either, "I even googled to see if there was a higher chance of me being gay because we're identical twins or whatever. And then I may have panic-fucked a few too many guys when it said there was a fifty-percent chance that I might have, like, latent lesbo tendencies. But then I realized I was being a total moronic bitch and that I didn't give a fuck." She laid a hand over mine and softened her voice, "You have too much to deal with already and I can't help you with that, so I can at least not give you shit for this. Gay or straight, Emily, you're still my sister. You're still my twin and I will always love you. I don't care who you sleep with. As long as they're not, like, repulsive, obviously." She smirked, "Can't have a Fitch fucking a fuggo, now can we?"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Katie." I laughed. I wasn't even being sarcastic. I could say with almost one-hundred-percent certainty that any future dreams would be about Naomi and she was the farthest thing from fugly conceivable.

"Glad that's all cleared up, lezzer." She patted my thigh and kissed my forehead and went to get up but I called her back.

"Katie?"

She obediently sat back down. All kinds of firsts were being made today. Katie never obediently did anything. (Unless you counted pandering to our mother, which I didn't. Jenna could have snapped her fingers and had Spartacus kneeling at her feet.)

"I just wanted to, um, tell you that…I met someone. Today."

Her face lit up, "Really? What's she like?"

My throat tightened and I nearly broke down right then, with a face almost a mirror of my own reflecting all the happiness I was feeling back at me. I never felt more like a twin. I never expected it to play out like this.

Katie was the poster child for heterosexuality. She took to guys and dating and on-again-off-again like an addict to a line and the casual way she was accepting this, accepting _me_ and the fact that I was different and always would be, it was almost painful it was so wonderful.

"Okaaaay then." Katie gave me a sideways smile, pretending to misunderstand my silence and the moisture building in my eyes, "Apparently she's not that great."

I laughed and sniffled and preemptively wiped my cheeks, "No, she's amazing. Her name's Naomi." I smiled, "She's –"

"GIRLS! DINNER!"

"Ugh!" Katie growled and stomped to her feet, "Perfect timing, the bitch. I fully expect to hear all about this _Naomi_" Katie smirked and somehow made Naomi's name sound like a rhyme about kisses in trees and babies in carriages. I smiled at how fantastically normal that was, "when we're done suffering through whatever ghastly thing she's come up with this time."

She snuck her arm through mine, plucked me up off the bed, and we walked down the stairs closer than we probably ever had been before.

* * *

><p>"Mom?"<p>

"Yes dear?"

I sighed and pressed my fork into the unidentifiable mush on my plate, watching it ooze through the tines like Play-doh. I hated when she was nice to me. It made things so much more confusing.

"I've been thinking about maybe starting some volunteer work." I flipped a steamed carrot over onto its opposite side, trying to keep up the pretense of indifference like things I'd never even dared to hope for weren't hinging on her response.

"Really?" Her eyebrows raised in genuine intrigue and pleasure, "That's a wonderful idea! You know," she gestured with her fork, "Trisha and Diane were _just_ talking about how more people need to lend a helping hand in this world. They'll be so impressed! Where at?"

I internalized a sigh. _Score one, Stonem. _"The animal shelter."

Her jaw froze mid-chew, making it slant to the side, and her fork dropped back down to her plate. She swallowed primly and frowned, "The animal shelter? Are you sure? Aren't there more suitable places? Can't you find somewhere more…hygienic?"

"No I…it has to be – I want – the shelter needs – I mean, the animals they –"I hadn't prepared to think of an alternative. A stupid mistake if there ever was one and now I was floundering and useless and this close to losing a prize that no one even knew I was gunning for. All because I was unequivocally incapable of standing up to her.

"Mom have you _seen_ that Sarah MacLachlan commercial?" Katie came to my rescue and slyly took my hand again underneath the table without breaking character, "It's like disgustingly sad."

"She's right, love." My dad agreed with a slight conciliatory nod of his head. He really picked the perfect time to make that part of him his own again, even though it would only be temporary. "Everyone's got a soft spot for those things."

"I think the animal shelter would be a wicked place to volunteer." James added excitedly, "Gordon MacPherson says that the real reason dogs are man's best friend is because they lick peanut butter off anything and if you put it on–"

"JAMES!" My mother screeched, "You mind your manners at this dinner table, young man. I don't want to hear mention of that boy again."

"Alright, alright. I was only saying'" He grumbled dejectedly, "It's not like I've _tried_ it or anything."

"So Mom," I seized the moment to take the conversation back where I needed it to go, "would it be okay? It won't interfere with my hours at the gym. I'll only do it in my free time." I swore.

"On one condition." I quickly bowed my head over my plate and busied myself with my food so she wouldn't see the look on my face, one that made it completely clear that I would agree no matter what the condition was. "You absolutely _have_ to stay away from anything with fleas. If I catch even a single one of those things in this house, you'll never step foot in that place again, agreed?"

My head snapped up. _That was it?_ I could do that. I probably would have to stay away from Cook's habitat, though. "Agreed. Definitely. I'll put in a, um, special request?" I didn't know if that was a thing people could do, but it sounded believable and that was my main concern.

"Then I suppose I don't see the harm it in."

My face broke into a huge grin. I couldn't stop it and I didn't much care. I just had to get out of the room before it raised any questions, "May I be excused?"

"For what reason? You've barely even touched your carrot flan." She frowned.

"I know. I'm just feeling really tired. Please?" It was convincing because it was mostly honest. Anyone would have been tired after having a day as eventful as mine.

My mom nodded curtly and went back to her own carrot flan.

I slid my chair back too spiritedly and cringed at the grating noise the chair made against the hardwood floor. I sincerely hoped it wouldn't leave a mark. I didn't want to think about how I would have to pay for it if it did.

I was still holding Katie's hand, or rather she was still holding mine, and I squeezed twice quickly to say _Thank you_ before standing up and walking to my room as calmly as I could and as fast as I dared.

I laid down on my bed and looked up, listening to the sound of conversation continuing on downstairs, my absence not putting the slightest damper on family dinner time.

The moment I pulled the covers over me, I felt fatigue in every muscle. My mind, however, was steadfastly awake. I knew I needed sleep, because I knew without being told that I would have to work a long day tomorrow, no matter what the reason was for me staying home today. That was just something I accepted, so I started counting the dips and dents and bubbles and lines on my ceiling that I had memorized years ago.

I made it to twelve before my phone chimed.

I flopped my arm over to my nightstand and felt around for it, tilting the screen toward me and squinting against the harsh LED to read the message.

**Just wanted to check if everything's okay?** **– Naomi**

I smiled in what I was beginning to understand was an automatic response to anything Naomi-related and quickly saved her number into my contacts before replying.

_**Yeah. Everything's great :)**_

I hit send and then made a split second decision that I hadn't said everything I wanted to yet and composed another message:

_**This was the best day of my life. I know people exaggerate and say that ALL the time, but I mean it. Bar-none, hands down, whatever. The best day. Thank you.**_

I chewed my lip and waited for her to respond. I wondered if there was some kind of scientific formula that could be applied in situations like this. Like maybe the speed of your perception of time was directly proportional to how eagerly you were awaiting something.

**I'm glad I could help. If you ever need anything, just give me a call. Anytime. Any news on the 'volunteering' front?**

_**Yep. She okayed it. All systems are go :)**_

**Haha fantastic! So will I see you tomorrow?**

I would have been immeasurably thrilled that she wanted to see me again so soon if it was a possibility, but I knew there would be no way out of spending my entire tomorrow at the gym. My fingers moved to tell her this, but froze as my phone received a rapid-fire string of new texts.

**Or if that's too soon, that's fine.**

**Don't feel like you have to or anything.**

**Or if you're busy that's okay too obviously.**

**Whatever works for you.**

I stared wide-eyed at my screen for a solid 60 seconds until I could be sure there wasn't another text lying in wait and giggled as I started retyping. I could see the blush I was sure she was trying to keep off her cheeks.

_**Naomi it's okay that you want to see me tomorrow. I want to see you too. But I don't think I can :(. I've got to work a double shift to make up for missing today's.**_

**Oh okay. No worries. What about the day after?**

_**I'm scheduled 9-5. And I would say that I'd come see you after, and believe me I REALLY want to, but I think my mom would get suspicious of me starting volunteering so soon after asking her if I could? **_

**Yeah I understand. Makes sense.**

_**I'll come see you as soon as I can. I promise.**_

**I'll be eagerly awaiting your arrival Miss Fitch ;)**

_**A winky face? How very bold of you Miss Campbell :P**_

**I daresay using tongue is even bolder.**

I laughed loudly and clamped my hand over my mouth to quiet myself, not wanting my mom to overhear and investigate what exactly I found so funny about being alone in my room. I kept my hand over my mouth as the laughter unexpectedly turned into a powerful yawn and I realized that sleep really was something I should probably get soon.

_**Nothing wrong with being bold ;P. I'm gonna go to bed though. Pretty wiped out. Night Naoms :)**_

**Same here actually. Goodnight Emily. Sweet dreams.**

I didn't have to count any more that night.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading. You're awesome.<strong>

**I'm really going to try to finish this within a reasonable time frame. I have the majority of the next chapter in my head, but I also have so many other things going on up there that I just don't know when it will be down on paper (or, you know, Word document)**


End file.
